Britain arrests terror suspects
British anti-terrorist police will begin questioning 13 suspected terrorists today following their arrests in a series of nationwide raids yesterday.
Police swooped in a planned operation as part of inquiries into “alleged international terrorism”.
The men, all aged in their 20s and 30s, were seized on suspicion of being concerned in the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism under the Terrorism Act 2000.
Yesterday’s arrests – led by the Met – were in north west London, Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire and Lancashire.
Scotland Yard has refused to discuss whether the raids were linked to the seizure of computer files from al-Qaida suspects captured in Pakistan.
The suspects were due to be taken to a central London police station and will be interviewed by officers from the Metropolitan Police’s Anti-Terrorist Branch today.
In a statement late yesterday the Met said that the raids were part of a “pre-planned, on-going intelligence-led operation” and added: “Yesterday’s operation was part of continuing and extensive inquiries by police and the security services into alleged international terrorism.”
Acording to the Met, searches of homes in London, Bushey, Luton and Blackburn were expected to take some time to complete.
The arrests come as British Prime Minister Tony Blair came under pressure to spell out the level of the terrorism threat in Britain, as a massive security operation continued in US cities.
America is on heightened alert following the discovery of documents in Pakistan which apparently mention potential targets for attack both in the US and Britain.
However questions were today raised over the scale of the response ordered by Washington on Sunday, after it was revealed that much of the information seized may have been gathered several years ago.
While police in London are said to have spoken to branches of American banks in the British capital, the UK's Home Office indicated only that no specific threat has been uncovered, saying: “We are maintaining a state of heightened readiness in the UK.”
Some have accused US President George Bush of using terror threats to shore up his political position, and chair of the Islamic Human Rights Commission, Massoud Shadjareh, sounded a note of caution about the arrests, which he said were “very worrying” in their timing.
Pictures from the BBC last night showed officers in fluorescent jackets searching a gold-coloured Mercedes in the first public indication of the wide-ranging raids.
Eyewitnesses in Blackburn told the corporation they had seen the arrests of two young men.
