(uk) Ten arrested in anti-terror raids

[Don Seer]

Ten arrested in anti-terror raids
 
 
A forensics officer removes a bag from one of the premises
Ten people have been arrested following a series of anti-terror raids.
Six men and one woman were arrested in Manchester and the other three elsewhere, police said.

They were arrested under the Terrorism Act 2000 on suspicion of involvement in the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism.

More than 400 police from the Greater Manchester, Staffordshire, West Midlands and South Yorkshire forces took part in the operation.

Security services and the Metropolitan police anti-terrorism branch were also involved.

'Ongoing operation'

The arrested people were of North African or Iraqi Kurd origin, Assistant Chief Constable David Whatton of Greater Manchester Police told BBC News.

 

He described the arrests and searches as "part of an ongoing operation looking at the threat of terrorism across the whole of the United Kingdom."

He said it would also continue in the future, but "it is something the public has become aware of as we have done some overt activity."

"This is working against the background that we've never had a such a high level of threat from terrorism in the United Kingdom since some time before Christmas," ACC Whatton said.

ACC Whatton said speculation that public buildings in Manchester were targets for terrorists was "extremely unhelpful" and urged the public to be vigilant.

Forensic inspection

Three properties close to Manchester city centre remained cordoned off on Monday afternoon and forensic officers were inspecting them.


The cordon included AK Computers, Dolphins takeaway and Funky Fones on Upper Brook Street.

ACC Whatton said searches would probably continue into Tuesday.

The properties are three storeys high, with the top two storeys of each converted into flats.

Officers in protective clothing had entered the takeaway, while two police officers stood guard at the rear of an upstairs flat.

At the front, four police officers stood around the cordon.

The road outside the flats remains open to traffic.

Police have not said where the 10 people are being held.






from http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3638861.stm

[Don Seer]

btw theres a liverpool vs man u game on saturday.. televised.. if they hit that it would be huge

[Real American]

Isn't multiculturalism great??? I personally think Britain needs millions and millions of more Muslim immigrants. Think about all the jobs they will create for policeman, security guards, detectives, Scotland Yard, etc!

[Woodrow]

I read this a couple of days ago and agreed with a lot of it's points:

http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/Columnists/Michael_Coren/2004/04/17/424075.html

HOW DOES one discuss the state of the Islamic faith, the Middle East, terrorism and the world without upsetting people? Frankly, it's almost impossible.
I'm not talking here of a fear of abuse and attack or of being accused of political incorrectness. I couldn't give a fig about that. No, I mean the need to hold on to common courtesy and avoiding making generalizations that could hurt good people.

Here are some recent examples, in that I have so little room to discuss this issue in full.

We used to be told by pop stars and other philosophers that "the Russians love their children too." It was self-evident then that all people loved their young. Now I'm not so sure. Do the Palestinians, for example, love their children too?

I should think most of them do.

But I have to be candid: many of them don't. We can't just rely on tired old relativism when we look at all this. Nobody who loves his or her child will send that little being out as a suicide bomber. Nobody who loves their children will line them up in front of tanks.

The natural instinct of a loving parent is to hide the children. Armed struggle and resistance I can understand, even if I do not approve. This, though, is something different. I've seen it myself. Mothers screaming for their tiny offspring to come out of the house, stand in front of Israeli patrols and throw stones at soldiers.

I take here no position on the causes of Israelis or Palestinians, but I do on the moral substance of a parent who would send children to fight the battles of adults.

Do not, please, tell me they have no option. There are legions of young Palestinian men willing to kill Israelis. It's just that children can sometimes be undetected. And are easily convinced of the delights of paradise in the world to come when, I quote, "Zionist skulls, blood and limbs fly against the walls."

British Muslim fundamentalists planned terror attacks and arrests were made in Ilford, England, my hometown. Boring Ilford may be, but nobody is oppressed there! Muslims who grew up with British democracy, free British health care, free British education and British tolerance have no reason to kill anyone, let alone those who gave them such privilege.

Remember, these people came to Britain, as they did to Canada, the United States and the rest of the free, Christian-based world to escape Islamic states and their harshness.

It is the pluralistic openness and decency of Europe and North America that has allowed so many Muslim immigrants. How ironic that a minority of those people hate that very pluralism and decency and want to slaughter women and children in the name of their god and their cause.

I opposed the war in Iraq, but I cannot remain silent when people kill contract workers, then disembowel and hang them from wires in the street. While children dance.

And, no, these murderers are not refugees from pain but the favoured sons of Saddam. Their fight is to restore fascism, not liberate their nation. Even if it was, nothing justifies such sadism.

German bomber pilots, their planes shot down, would parachute into London after destroying entire towns and killing thousands of people. Almost without exception they were treated properly, as prisoners of war.

It's not about colonization, globalization, Zionism, American dominance or any other cliches. The Muslims themselves are colonizers, having pushed most Christians out of the Middle and near East, once the cradle of the Christian world.

The Ottoman Turks, Muslims all, colonized the region for centuries. Arabs colonized Persians, Assyrians, Kurds and others. The Saudis, sponsors of so much terror, are nobody's victims. They are wealthy beyond belief, and deprive women and minorities of most basic civil rights.

This is something deeper, darker, than an imagined fight against a foreign foe. There is a virus at work. For the sake of the good, law-abiding Muslims of the world -- the majority -- we cannot pretend any longer it's about anything other than what it is: a religion gone mad and gone bad.

Stop the lies, they only make it worse.

[Woodrow]

btw theres a liverpool vs man u game on saturday.. televised.. if they hit that it would be huge

http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2004180985,00.html

Looks like you were right on the money...

Props to the people who brought these fucks down!

[Don Rizzle]

there has been many speculations on where the target was including the trafford shopping centre, some tourist thing and both manchester football clubs however all have denied any knowledge of a specific threat to them and the police and home office are neiither confirmng or denying the speculation

[Don Seer]

can u imagine if they did strike the man u / liverpool game? live on tv.. oh boy..




americans... its imagine them bombing a lakers vs nets game or something..

[Trauma-san]

^ Actually, I think it would be worse, I believe your soccer (football) games are attended by more people than basketball games in America.  Don't yall pack like 100,000 people in the stands?  Most Basketball games sold out have maybe 25,000.  

[Don Seer]

yeah you're right.. i just looked it up.. a sell out crowd for the man u stadium is around 65,000 people.




u know what nuts about all this..

its a clever concept... and even if the plan wasn't to attack a game like this.. the idea is out there now thanks to the media hyping it!

[Trauma-san]

I think football games in England are more like NASCAR races here.  I think the Charlotte Speedway holds 100,000 or somewhere near it.  

[Don Seer]

maybe  more violence here though (dunno much about nascar other than that they race in circles..)

only '2' sides per event.. security going in is tight though, to stop things like darts, bottles etc..

[Trauma-san]

Yeah, yall are much more violent.  At NASCAR games it's usually pretty peaceful.  People are all drunk, but they don't fight much, just a few incidents here and there.  

As for the sport, basically you have people that are fans of a particular driver and wear all their jackets and hats and shit.  Usually though, people don't totally HATE any of the drivers like yall hate the opposing team, lol.  Maybe you're pulling for Dale Earnhardt Jr. to win, but Dale Jarrett wins, so you go "Well, that's not too bad" or whatever.  

[Don Seer]

if they had 1 on 1 races it might get more fun!  

[Don Seer]

they said on ch4 news earlier that all  the 10 had tickets for the man u / liverpool game!  

[Now_Im_Not_Banned]

they said on ch4 news earlier that all  the 10 had tickets for the man u / liverpool game!  

Maybe they're fans?