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Another 'air plot' arrest
15/08/2006 22:44 - (SA)
London - British police detained another suspect on Tuesday in an alleged plot to blow up jetliners flying across the Atlantic - the first arrest in the case since the plot was foiled last week after 23 other suspects were taken into custody.
The announcement came after police said they had raided two internet cafes in the investigation and a news report said officers found firearms in a search of woods near where some suspects were arrested earlier.
London's metropolitan police said the suspect was detained about noon (11:00GMT) in the Thames Valley area west of London, but gave no further details.
The developments came following several days of a near lockdown on information after the plot was revealed on Thursday.
Authorities will have to provide at least some details of their evidence to a judge at a closed-door detention extension hearing on Wednesday.
No 'specific threat'
The two internet cafes were raided on Thursday in central Slough, not far from the High Wycombe neighbourhood where several suspects were arrested, said Thames Valley police.
Police said they had increased their presence in the town, and urged residents in the area to remain calm.
"There is no intelligence to suggest that there is any specific terrorist threat to anyone in this area," said chief superintendent Brian Langston.
Nargis Janjua, co-owner of the One World Internet Cafe in Slough, said police arrived early on Thursday afternoon and removed 25 computers from her shop and loaded them into a van.
"They told us they had been watching for days and weeks before," she said, adding that she had no idea why police were suspicious of the shop.
Meanwhile, the BBC reported that a search of the woodland area in High Wycombe turned up several firearms and other items of interest.
It was not clear if they were to have been used in the alleged jetliner plot, which authorities say involved a plan to smuggle liquid explosives, hidden in hand luggage, aboard flights.
- AP
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