British Raid Internet Cafés
British authorities have raided two internet cafés in the town of Slough, near to where a number of the suspects from last weeks terror arrests lived. There is no indication of what they were looking for or what they found. There was also a stash of weapons recovered in a forest nearby.
The two Internet cafés were raided Thursday in central Slough, 25 miles west of London, not far from the neighborhood in the town of High Wycombe where several suspects were arrested last week, Thames Valley police said. They didn't say what, if anything, was found.
Police said they had increased their presence in Slough, but urged people to remain calm.
"There is no intelligence to suggest that there is any specific terrorist threat to anyone in this area," Chief Superintendent Brian Langston said.
Meanwhile, the British Broadcasting Corp. said a search of some suspects' homes and of a woodland area in High Wycombe turned up several firearms and other items of interest. It was not clear if they were related to the alleged jetliner plot, which authorities say involved a plan to smuggle liquid explosives aboard flights hidden in hand luggage.
The two developments came after several days of a near lockdown on information. The government has not briefed the media since last week, has not said where suspects are being held, and has not even released the names of some of them.
The British government is working on new security measures, including revised guidelines on who gets searched or selected for further scrutiny. These possible revisions have brought out the usual critics:
British Defense Secretary Des Browne said work was under way on new permanent security requirements for airports, but declined to say what the new measures might be.
A report by The Times newspaper said officials were considering a system of passenger-profiling that would select people behaving suspiciously, who had an unusual travel pattern or were of a certain ethnic or religious background.
Leaders in the Muslim community criticized that approach, saying it would further isolate British Muslims.
"The government needs to think very, very carefully before it considers putting this measure into practice," said Inayat Bunglawala, a spokesman for the Muslim Council of Britain. "There is concern that such profiling would perhaps only contribute to further alienating a group whose close co-operation is essential in countering terror."
Yeah, it has been working so very well up until now.
UPDATE: British authorities have arrested a 25th suspect in an unspecified location West of London.
World news | Gaius Tuesday, 15 August , 2006
By Roland Hesz, Thursday, 17 August , 2006 @ 1:47 am
The U.K. Terror Plot: What’s really going on?
On the implausibility of the explosives plot
Now I do wonder some….