Mercury (Zambia) : 'Plotters' in UK released

Thursday, April 23, 2009

'Plotters' in UK released

Reuters | April 23, 2009

British police yesterday denied making an embarrassing mistake after releasing all 12 men seized in raids to foil a suspected al-Qaeda plot. The arrests were brought forward owing to a security breach.

The men, 11 Pakistanis and one Briton, were arrested around north-west England on April 8 as part of an operation against what Prime Minister Gordon Brown called at the time a "very big terrorist plot".

All the suspects have been freed, although 11 face deportation on security grounds. Prosecutors said there wasn't enough evidence to justify holding them.