Re: Police raids target ‘terror plot’ in UK
Stupid Animals. giving pakistanis a bad name. i hope they rot in jails for the rest of their miserable lives
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070131/wl_uk_afp/britainattacksarrests;_ylt=AmOSlr2VqKxujcoW3LUlmeNvaA8F;_ylu=X3oDMTA0cDJlYmhvBHNlYwM-
Eight arrested over ‘Iraq-style’ kidnap plot in Birmingham
BIRMINGHAM (AFP) - **Police have arrested eight British Pakistanis under anti-terror laws to foil an alleged “Iraq-style” plot to kidnap and behead a victim, possibly a Muslim soldier, sources said.
If successful the alleged plotters, arrested in dawn raids in Birmingham, planned to post a video of the execution on the Internet, as happened to a number of hostages in
Iraq.**
“It was going to be a beheading and this was going to be posted on the Internet via a homemade video,” a security source told AFP Wednesday. “I think it would be somebody significant inside the Muslim community.”
Sky News said the intended victim was a serving Muslim soldier in his 20s, who was recently given police protection after detectives learned that the attempted kidnap was only days away.
Police confirmed that the arrests took place in dawn raids in parts of the city with a large Muslim population. A local councillor told AFP that those arrested were Britons of Pakistani origin.
Home Secretary John Reid said only that a “major” anti-terror operation had been carried out, underlining the “real and serious nature” of the terrorist threat Britain faces.
West Midlands Police said those detained were held “on suspicion of the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism under the Terrorism Act 2000” while the Home Office said it was part of a “nationwide operation.”
“We can confirm that a major counter-terrorism operation took place earlier today led by West Midlands Police,” a spokeswoman said.
“Whilst this operation poses no specific threat to the West Midlands, as a precautionary measure we will have an enhanced police presence” at the locations targeted by the raids, said a statement.
Local councillor Ansar Ali Kahn told AFP that the people arrested, including in the Alum Rock and Sparkhill areas of the city, were British of Pakistani origin.
“The community doesn’t know what’s happening … As a local councillor my main priority is keeping peace and calm in the community…There is shock and worry amongst the community because it was very sudden,” he said.
A Home Office spokeswoman said: “This operation is a reminder of the real and serious nature of the terrorist threat we face.”
The current threat level to Britain from terrorism currently stands at “severe” – the second highest level – meaning an attack is “highly likely”, according to the domestic intelligence service MI5.
Wednesday’s arrests come after police detained a total of five people in raids in Manchester and Halifax, in nearby West Yorkshire, on January 23.
Officers arrested two 24-year-old men and a 32-year-old in Manchester as part of an inquiry into the disappearance of a man being monitored under a control order – a loose form of house arrest for security suspects.
On the same day, two men were separately arrested in dawn raids in Halifax by unarmed Metropolitan Police anti-terrorist officers supported by West Yorkshire Police.
Two men from Halifax appeared before City of Westminster Magistrates Court on Tuesday charged with a series of offences under the Terrorism Act 2000. They were remanded in custody until February 6.
The charges relate to alleged possession of extremist material, said to include an Al-Qaeda training film and a computer file called “Hamas Bomb”