Friday, July 06, 2012

6-Jul-12: Tentacles in London: British police arrest six near Olympic site

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What a difference a few days make.

Monday July 2, 2012
CNN -- Government officials from Washington to London insist that there are no known specific or credible terror threats tied to next month's Olympic games in London. Nonetheless, authorities on both sides of the Atlantic are urging vigilance. [Source]
Friday July 6, 2012
Six people, including three living close to the Olympic site and a former police community support officer, have been arrested over a suspected terrorist plot. The alleged plan involved Islamist extremists with potential targets in the UK, but was not linked to the Olympics, it is understood. The arrests were part of an intelligence-led operation by the Metropolitan Police counter-terror command along with armed officers, but the threat was not thought to be imminent.Five men and a woman were arrested on suspicion of the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism and were being held at a southeast London police station, police said. Three of the men, believed to be from a Bangladeshi family, were arrested in a raid on a house in Stratford, east London. One, aged 24, was tasered but did not require hospital treatment. The others were aged 18 and 26. Neighbours said the occupants had been there for more than a year and there were frequently people coming and going from the property. They spoke of seeing men in Muslim-style robes and a woman in a burka...In Ealing, west London, three men, aged 21, 29 and 30, were arrested. The force said eight homes in east, west and north London and one business premises in east London were being searched. The arrests come after Security Service director-general Jonathan Evans warned last month Britain had experienced a ''credible terrorist attack plot about once a year since 9/11. In back rooms and in cars and on the streets of this country there is no shortage of individuals talking about wanting to mount terrorist attacks here... 'The threat is real and remains with us today.''

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