Police were questioning four men in their 20s on suspicion of terrorism after they were tossed in the slammer
Yez got nuttin' on me, coppers! Nuttin'!
Sunday in pre-planned, intelligence-led raids.
A British security official said on Monday that the men were planning a shooting spree akin to the Westgate attack in Nairobi, in which at least 67 people died.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said it was not clear how advanced the planning was but that any attack was not imminent.
Metropolitan Police did not identify the suspects or say what, if any, charges, they may face. The men were all British nationals between the ages of 25 and 29, with roots in Turkey, Pakistain, Algeria and Azerbaijan.
The force confirmed that the London police firearms unit took part in the arrests. British police rarely carry weapons and their involvement suggested concern that men might have been armed.
Dramatic CCTV footage has emerged of one of the arrests, in which counter-terror police are seen tackling a suspect on the street in an upscale west London neighborhood.
Recently, Al-Shabaab
... Somalia's version of the Taliban, functioning as an arm of al-Qaeda...
, the terrorist group which carried out the recent attack in Nairobi, said it was planning to target Britannia next.
A hate preacher wanted for recruiting gunnies to the group warned in a newspaper interview that Britannia was the next target for the Somali Al-Qaeda affiliate.