Posted on 09/02/2006 11:19:32 AM PDT by gopwinsin04
LONDON, Sept. 2 — The British police arrested 14 men in south, east and north London overnight, raiding a halal restaurant and an Islamic school in the latest display of concern about the spread of potential terrorists among British Muslims, police officials said Saturday.
Separately, the police in Manchester in the northwest said they arrested two men in raids on three homes on Saturday morning. None of the arrests were linked to the huge security alert that began Aug. 10 when police rounded up 24 people to thwart what they called a terrorist suicide plot to bomb trans-Atlantic airliners, police officials said.
A police official, who spoke in return for anonymity because the investigation was continuing, said one line of inquiry was whether those arrested had been seeking to set up training facilities for would-be terrorists.
A police statement on Saturday said the 14 men arrested in London had been seized under counterterrorism laws “on suspicion of the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism.” Police officers declined to go into detail on Saturday about their search of a privately financed Islamic school in the village of Mark Cross, near Crowborough, south of London, but said it was linked to the overnight raids.
Last Sunday, a British tabloid, The Express on Sunday, reported that Abu Hamza al-Masri, a radical Islamic cleric imprisoned this year on charges of inciting racial hatred and soliciting murder, had sought to use the Jameah Islameah Islamic school at Mark Cross, which offered weekend camping sites for Muslims. It quoted the school’s imam, Bilal Patel, as saying Mr. Masri and a group of followers had camped on the school’s 54-acre grounds but had been asked not to return. The newspaper did not say when Mr. Masri had used the school.
“
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Good news.
The Brits know we are in a war on terror. Too bad Americans are still unaware.
Again? Looks like the Brits get it. Too bad we don't.
I heard a brief mention of this on Fox News and had a heck of a time finding it on FR. Can this go in breaking news?
Bump for the Brits.
Meanwhile, the Brits fight ordinary crime like it was a national joke - which it is, although not for the reason they imagine.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.