Three of the nine people arrested by British police in
Birmingham under the Terrorism Act were taken on Thursday to
Coventry Magistrates Court in northwest Britain.
Eight people were arrested early on Wednesday morning by police
and security forces investigating an "Iraq-style" kidnap and
beheading plot, while the ninth was held at 15:00 PM on the
motorway, Sky news reported.
Under anti-terror laws, a person can only be held for 48 hours
without charge.
West Midlands Police said earlier that the nine were held "on
suspicion of the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of
terrorism under the Terrorism Act 2000." The police would also be
asking for more time to question all the nine men. The other six
will appear in court later.
Although no detailed information has been given by the police
under a six-month surveillance operation, Sky news reported that
the nine people, believed to be Britons of Pakistani origin, were
intended to post a video of a serving British Muslim soldier being
tortured and killed on the Internet.
The unnamed hostage in his 20s is now under police protection,
said the report.
Local police have distributed 5,000 leaflets to let residents in
the community know what they are doing in the hope that people
would come with more information on any suspicious acts.
British media speculated that the alleged beheaded plot could be
a backlash to the Iraqi and Afghanistan policies Tony Blair and his
US counterpart George W. Bush imposed. It indicated that homegrown
British Muslims had started to target Muslim soldiers in the army
for their participation in the war in Iraq. The move would also
affect recruits among British Muslims to join the army to be
deployed in Afghanistan.
(Xinhua News Agency February 2, 2007)
