Friday
23 Mar 2007
Terror Suspects Arrested At British Airport
By Annie Jacobsen in category The Al-Qaeda Threat
Scotland Yard has arrested two British men of Pakistani origin at Manchester Airport in England as the men were about to board a flight to Pakistan. The men had gone through passport control and the arrest has been described in papers throughout London as having been "dramatic." A third man was arrested in Leeds, England as part of the same sting operation.
All three men were arrested "on suspicion of the commission, preparation, or instigation of acts of terrorism" in connection the 7/7 London terrorist attack, according to Reuters. No one has yet been charged in connection with those suicide attacks which killed 52 commuters in 2005.
The Times Online is reporting that the men "are thought to have been under surveillance for some time." Undercover detectives arrested them before they fled to Pakistan. Officials in Pakistan are not presently cooperating in handing over suspected terrorist Rashid Rauf — believed to have been involved in the London planes plot of 2006. This move suggests the British are unwilling to let more British terror suspects find safe haven in Pakistan. Also from The Times:
"Last month on an official trip to Pakistan, Margaret Beckett, the Foreign Secretary, said that Britain was concerned about the lack of cooperation over the extradition of Rashid Rauf, who is wanted over the alleged airline bombing plot last summer."