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| Britain |
| U.K. Police Get More Time With 9 Suspects |
| 2004-08-09 |
| London police on Sunday were granted more time to question nine terrorist suspects arrested last week in raids across Britain. Officers now have until Tuesday to question the men, who reportedly include a suspected key al-Qaida operative. A total of 13 men were arrested Tuesday in a sweep which fueled speculation of an al-Qaida plot to attack London's Heathrow airport. Two were released without charge, and on Sunday London's Metropolitan Police said another two were no longer being held under counterterrorism legislation.They were re-arrested on suspicion of possessing forged documents, officers said. Under British anti-terrorism laws, police may get extensions to question suspects for up to 14 days before they must be charged or released. The remaining nine were being questioned under the Terrorism Act, on suspicion of being concerned in the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism, Scotland Yard said in a statement. The British arrests have been linked to earlier sweeps in Pakistan, and to terrorism alerts announced Aug. 1 in New York, New Jersey and Washington. Intelligence sources have suggested that one of the British suspects, variously identified in published reports as Abu Eisa al-Hindi or Abu Musa al-Hindi, was a senior al-Qaida operative who was also involved on surveillance on prominent financial institutions in Washington and New York. Neither the government nor the police has revealed details of the allegations against the suspects arrested in Britain. |
| Posted by:Fred |