Feed: Breaking: U.K. counterterrorism operation nets 12 suspects - AggScore: 12.8

Breaking: U.K. counterterrorism operation nets 12 suspects

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blockquoteemInterpol hadissued an allpointsbulletinlast week that told its more than 180 member nations that itreceived information... from the Interpol office in Baghdad about possible threats, especially in the U.S. and Europe, due to orders given to alQaeda cells by alQaeda commanders.emblockquotecaption id alignalignleft width210 caption Heavily armed British cops are on high alert to deter and thwart terrorist attacks. Photo U.K. Home Office img class srchttpcdn2b.examiner.comsitesdefaultfilesstyleslargehash23b7british20patrol.jpg alt Heavily armed British cops are on high alert to deter and thwart terrorist attacks. Photo U.K. Home Office width210 height170 captionBritish policedetectives on Mondaycaptured 12suspected terroristsas a result of INTERPOL warnings last week regardingpossible Christmas bomb attacks in the U.S.,U.K., and other European nations.The suspects, Muslim malesaged between 17 and 28, weredetained in London,Birmingham, Cardiff, and Trentand charged withsuspicion of commission, preparation or instigation of an act of terrorism in the U.K., security officialssaid.Police and MI5 searchesbegan after the arrests at several locations, with detectives and forensictechniciansseeking evidence of terrorism such asmaterials that could be used to make improvisedexplosive devices.The counterterrorism dragnetwaslaunched to take action in order to ensure public safety, the countrys leading antiterrorism officer, Assistant Commissioner John Yates, of the Metropolitan police, told the British leftleaning newspaper The Guardian.This is a largescale, preplanned and intelligenceled operation involving several forces, Yates said. The operation is in its early stages, so we are unable to go into detail at this time about the suspected offences.Interpol hadissued an allpointsbulletinlast week that told its more than 180 member nations that itreceived information... from the Interpol office in Baghdad about possible threats, especially in the U.S. and Europe, due to orders given to alQaeda cells by alQaeda commanders.According to a report obtained by the Terrorism Committee of the National Association of Chiefs of Police, Interpol knew about the suicidebombing in Stockholm last weekendprior to the blast.During the attack, a suspected al Qaeda attacker detonated a car bomb then killed himself in a separate explosion. Thankfully there were no deaths and only two peoplesustained injuries.Swedish police identified the attacker as IraqibornTaimour Abdulwahab al Abdaly, who allegedlywas trained by an alQaeda cell in the Britain. Warnings about further possible attacks also came from Iraqi government officials.A member of the NYPDs detective bureau told this writer that a possibleterrorist target would be a large public venue with large crowds of people in metropolitan areas.Among the holiday security measures is wider use of bombsniffing dogs in transit systems, airports, shopping malls and other public places.The closeness of Christmas appears to have been a factor, but it is not clear whether investigators were nervous because of any specific intelligence that an attack was imminent, or whether the landmark date made them anxious.These latest U.K.arrests followed a long term undercover investigation led by MI5, according to counterterrorism officials.Those arrested were alleged to be involved in a serious plot, according to officials, indicating this was more than an operation designed only to disrupt or warn off suspects. Wellplaced officials described the investigation as significant.All 12 suspectswere arrested underBritains 2000 Terrorism Act.The majorityof thesuspects are believed to have come to the U.K. fromBangladesh.City councillor Ramesh Patel said he understood they were members of the Bangladeshi community. The police told me and other councillors that they were going to make these arrests, he said. Its a shock for the community. The police seem to have acted quickly, but its important not to accuse these people yet. It will be up to the police and courts.The Britishgovernments risk matrix similar to the U.S. colorcoded alert system remains at severe the secondhighest level, meaning an incident is seen as highly likely.In October, the U.S. state department issued a travel alert for Europe, saying groups linked to alQaeda could be planning attacks. This followed speculation that alQaeda was planning a commandostyle attack similar to the 2008 Mumbai massacre, in which 166 people were killed.