Some of the suspects detained following the Glasgow and London terror attacks had appeared on the MI5 database, it has emerged.
Whitehall sources said that the Security Service had established “linkages” with a number of the individuals although it was not clear how much was known about them.
Nevertheless the sources said that MI5 had been able to pass on valuable information to the police which had helped to speed up their operation.
“It has taken a while but it appears that there are some linkages which refer to some of the individuals that have been detained,” one source said.
– The Guardian
An al-Qaeda leader in Iraq boasted before last week’s failed bombings in London and Glasgow that his group was planning to attack British targets and that “those who cure you will kill you”, The Times has learnt.
The warning was delivered to Canon Andrew White, a senior British cleric working in Baghdad, and could be highly significant as the eight Muslims arrested in the wake of the failed plot are all members of the medical profession.
– The Times
Pakistan’s president, Gen Pervez Musharraf, faced a violent challenge to his authority last night after nine people were killed in clashes between security forces and radical Islamist students.
After six months of deadlock, gun battles flared between police and students from a religious seminary in the heart of the capital, Islamabad. More than 140 were injured in the shooting.
– The Telegraph
Millions of air passengers could be tracked across Europe under security proposals unveiled in Brussels yesterday.
Passport numbers and credit card details of people flying into EU states would be stored on individual government databases, which could then share the information. Databases containing information on people travelling between EU states is also under consideration, meaning French authorities could demand details of inbound British passengers.
Franco Frattini, the European justice commissioner, said the EU needed to find a “better way to discourage and to detect terrorists” after last week’s attempted bombings. “I suggest that all member states should equip themselves with a PNR [passenger name record] system and share information with others when relevant,” said Mr Frattini.
– The Guardian
Heathrow airport was thrown into chaos yesterday as a security scare closed Terminal 4, causing more than 100 British Airways flights to be cancelled.
The disruption, which also led to BA flights from Terminal 1 being delayed, was started by the discovery of a suspect package as the security alert continued to grip Britain.
It came as European Union security chiefs announced plans for an air passenger database covering all 27 member states of the EU.
– The Telegraph
