Eight arrested over 'Iraq-style' kidnap plot in Britain
Pastor Dale Morgan
Wednesday January 31, 8:43 PM
*Eight arrested over 'Iraq-style' kidnap plot in Britain*
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.
If successful the alleged plotters, arrested in dawn raids in the
central English city of 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. "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 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 Wednesday.
"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 were arrested
in the Alum Rock and Sparkhill areas of the city.
"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, north-west England, 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".