BREAKING NEWS
UK arrests al-Qaeda operative
From correspondents in London
August 05, 2004
POLICE are holding a senior al-Qaeda operative in Britain who was said to be in the final stages of planning a terrorist attack on London's main Heathrow airport, The Times newspaper reported today.
In a front-page report, it said the man was arrested after a tip-off from Pakistani intelligence, which claimed that he was getting orders direct from Osama bin Laden as head of al-Qaeda operations in Britain.
It also quoted Pakistani officals as saying that details about Heathrow were found in the computer of an al-Qaeda member arrested last month in Pakistan whose job it was to send coded messages to al-Qaeda agents worldwide.
The Times' report appeared two days after "intelligence-led" police raids in London and other parts of England in which 13 men in their 20s and 30s were arrested under the Terrorism Act 2000. One was released without charge today.
The Sun newspaper said that the data about Heathrow found in the computer of Muhammed Nassem Noor Khan - arrested in Pakistan in July after a gunfight - prompted yesterday's wave of arrests.
Man, we are in dangerous times. It looks like the cells are starting to be unraveled as we get some good intel. I'm concerned that the sleeper cells might hurry up to execute their operations for fear of getting captured first. Use it or lose it...
I was glad to see they got these guys because the operatives (the actual attackers, not the info-gatherers, or the planners) are usually in their 20's and early 30's.