The 'secret' documents clutched by Mr Quick were clearly on show
| Submit your comments on this article |
| Britain |
| Ten held after security blunder |
| 2009-04-08 |
| Ten men have been arrested in the North West of England after Britain's most senior counter terrorism police officer sparked a security alert. Assistant Commissioner Bob Quick said he "deeply regretted" revealing a secret document to photographers when he arrived for a briefing at No 10. The document, clearly marked "secret", carried an outline briefing on an ongoing counter-terrorism operation. The ten suspects were later arrested at locations across north-west England. Opposition MPs were swift to criticise Mr Quick, with the Lib Dems describing him as "accident prone" and the Conservatives condemning his "extraordinary and very alarming" lapse of judgement. Some hours after the Downing Street incident, two men outside the main library at Liverpool John Moores University were arrested by armed officers from the North West Counter-Terrorism Unit. Other students said they heard police shouting at the two suspects, then saw them lying face down on the floor. Witnesses said they were advised over the library loudspeaker to stay away from the windows for their own safety. "Everyone was just panicking," one student told the BBC. Other addresses raided by armed officers, assisted by officers from Merseyside Police, Greater Manchester Police and Lancashire Constabulary, included an internet cafe in the Cheetham Hill area of Manchester and a guest house in Clitheroe, Lancashire. Witnesses said two men were taken from the cafe after police arrived. Mesu Raza, who lives in a flat above the cafe, said: "I saw police arrest two people and put them in a police van. They had handcuffs on, they were Asian men, and the police were armed. Two police vans arrived outside the shop and there was more police went round the back. There were many officers and a large number of police vans." Earlier on Wednesday press photographers in Downing Street snapped Mr Quick clutching a white document marked "secret" and containing the names of several senior officers, locations and details about the nature of the overseas threat. Details of the information revealed cannot be reported. Mr Quick was attending the meeting in his role as lead for counter terrorism and for the Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo). On Wednesday evening he apologised to Met Commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson for the slip. A Scotland Yard spokesman said: "Assistant Commissioner Quick accepts he made a mistake on leaving a sensitive document on open view and deeply regrets it. "He has apologised to the Commissioner and colleagues." |
| Posted by:john frum |
| #2 Counter-terrorist police arrested 10 young men across the north-west tonight in an operation hastily brought forward following an embarrassing security leak by a senior Scotland Yard commander. The men, detained at John Moores University in Liverpool, an internet cafe and a house in the Cheetham Hill area of Manchester, as well as at addresses in Lancashire, are suspected of involvement in an al-Qaida plot aimed at attacking the UK. At least one is believed to be a student, the others were born in Pakistan. The arrests were triggered after Assistant Commissioner Bob Quick, head of Scotland Yard's specialist operations wing, was photographed this morning clutching sensitive documents as he arrived in Downing Street. Clearly visible on top of a large bundle of papers under his arm was a white document marked "secret" that carried an outline for briefing on a current counter-terrorism operation. He was on his way to attend a cabinet security committee. Realising the existence of the Âphotos of the Âdocument – which included the names of several senior officers, sensitive locations and details about the nature of the overseas threat – a "D notice" was imposed by the government to restrict the media from revealing the contents of the picture. Quick had been due to meet Gordon Brown and the home secretary, Jacqui Smith, to discuss police reform. He was also addressing the meeting in his role as lead for counter-terrorism and for the Association of Chief Police Officers. Tonight Quick apologised to the Metropolitan commissioner Sir Paul ÂStephenson. A Scotland Yard spokesman said: "Assistant Commissioner Quick accepts he made a mistake on leaving a sensitive document on open view and deeply regrets it. He has apologised to the commissioner and colleagues." The arrests were led by Greater Manchester police, the force which coordinates anti-terrorist operations in the region. "Ten men have been arrested as part of a counter-terrorism operation across the north-west of England," a statement from the force said. "Officers from the North West Counter-Terrorism Unit, supported by Merseyside police, Greater Manchester police and Lancashire constabulary, carried out a series of raids." According to initial accounts a taser stun gun was used by armed police to subdue some of the suspects who were arrested at John Moores University. Ruth Jones, a third-year student at the university, told the Guardian that she was preparing to leave for the day when an announcement was made over the tannoy system warning students to stay away from the windows. "I went upstairs at that point to find a friend and looked out the window to see police with guns standing over two young guys, who looked like they were in their twenties," she said. A duty manager working near the campus told BBC radio that police had dealt with the situation "very calmly". He said that he saw the "evacuation of the suspects, and then police dispersed the small crowd that had gathered". Two students were in the university library when the arrests took place and said a "distressed voice" came over the tannoy asking others to stay away from the windows for their own safety. One, named as Craig, told the BBC: "There was shouting by the police telling them [the suspects] to get on the floor. Everybody was panicking." Another witness, Nicholas Higgins, told Sky News that security officers had told students to stay away from windows because of fears that there might be a bomb. "I saw the lads [being arrested] lying on the floor," he said. "They were surrounded by police. The police had guns with them." The arrests were due to happen in Âseveral days' time, but because of the leak were carried out in daylight, in direct Âcontravention of the usual practice of arresting people while they sleep. Two of those arrested are believed to be British citizens, another two are naturalised but born in Pakistan. Britain's threat level today remained unchanged at severe general, meaning that officials believed that there was a high risk of attack. |
| Posted by: john frum 2009-04-08 16:22 |
| #1 The 'secret' documents clutched by Mr Quick were clearly on show |
| Posted by: john frum 2009-04-08 16:14 |