Irish Independent : 'Major terrorist plot' amounted to one email and some phonecalls

'Major terrorist plot' amounted to one email and some phonecalls

By Jonathan Brown in London | April 23, 2009

The case against 12 Muslim men involved in what UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown described as a "major terrorist plot" amounted to one email and a handful of ambiguous telephone conversations, it emerged last night after the men were released without charge.

Eleven Pakistani students and one British man were freed after extensive searches of 14 addresses in north-west England failed to locate evidence of terrorist activity, according to security sources.

Yesterday, the UK government's own reviewer of terrorism legislation said he would investigate the case.

According to security sources, the operation was launched after the interception of telephone calls and emails which pointed towards a bombing campaign orchestrated by al-Qa'ida.

But yesterday a senior Pakistani defence official said the UK authorities had failed to consult them adequately before carrying out the arrests and greater co-operation would have avoided "embarrassing mistakes" for the government.

Muslim groups and lawyers for the 12 men arrested two weeks ago said the police operation had been a fiasco.

(© Independent News and Media)

Asian News : Community not surpised by release of terror suspects

Community not surpised by release of terror suspects

April 23, 2009

PEOPLE in Cheetham Hill reacted with dismay but not surprise at the news that 11 terror suspects had been released without charge.

Locals say the raids by armed officers - and the apparent lack of evidence against those arrested - had blunted their confidence in the police.

For more than a century, the district has been the first port of call for thousands of migrants, from Manchester's cotton mill heyday to the present day.

Those who know the 12 men who were arrested two weeks ago said they were not surprised by their release.

Takeaway worker Hamza Gilazi, whose own house on Abercarn Close was investigated by police, said he knew four of the arrested men.

Mr Gilazi, 31, who was not questioned or arrested, but had to stay at a friend's home for five days while officers combed his home, said the men involved had never expressed extreme views. He said: "The guys came here a couple of times. I guess the police thought something was hidden here.

"I've known them about a year. Two of them are not really religious and I was always confident they had nothing to do with a plot, because they never spoke about anything political or suggested anything violent."

Officers searched the house and removed items, including music CDs and DVDs, which have still to be returned.

The area has been used by people linked to extremist terror - notably al-Qaida fanatic Kamel Bourgass, who killed policeman Stephen Oake at a flat in Cheetham Hill in 2003. And last year local taxi driver Habib Ahmed was jailed for 10 years for his role in a plot to build a terror cell in the city.

However, residents point to other terrorism raids which have proved fruitless. In 2007, two men were arrested at a house on Heywood Street, but released without charge.

Manchester University student Tariq Khan, 30, who knew one of the men held, said: "When the first raids happened, we thought the police must have had some evidence. But when we found out who they were, we realised there must have been a mistake, because the guy is a peaceful person.

"A lot of international students live around here. Many now feel very uncomfortable and worry that something like this could happen to them."

One shopowner, who declined to be named, said he was fed up with the area being linked to extremism.

He said: "People from all over the world live here: Pakistanis, Jews, Arabs and Africans. This gives us all a bad name.

"The police have got to do their job, but the fact that they were so heavy-handed and still got nothing will make people trust them less."

At Galsworthy Avenue, where three of the arrested men lived, residents were `quietly angry' about the level of force used in the raids.

Housewife and mum-of-four Bushra Majid said: "Policemen with machine guns came to our street at 5 o'clock in the afternoon when children were playing out and told us to get inside.

"If it happened somewhere else, then there would have been some sort of inquiry."

Sales assistant Fatima Jamil, 25, said: "I'm frightened we are getting labelled as an extremist neighbourhood because this is a mostly Muslim area.

"People going to mosque regularly, and some men having beards, is quite normal here - it doesn't mean that they are plotting terror."

Manchester Evening News : Terror raids 'lessons' warning

Terror raids 'lessons' warning

Exclusive | David Ottewell | April 23, 2009

THE Muslim community's confidence in the police is heading for crisis point following the release without charge of 12 men arrested in anti-terror raids, says one of Manchester's leading politicians.

Coun Afzal Khan, a former Lord Mayor, said confidence could be lost because 'too many times the police are getting it wrong.'

Eleven of the 12 men, who are Pakistani nationals in Britain on visas, face deportation after being handed over to the UK Borders Agency. The twelfth is a British citizen from Cheetham Hill.

Lord Carlile of Berriew is to carry out an independent investigation into the case and will interview `all concerned' - including those arrested.

Senior security sources told the M.E.N they remained 'absolutely' confident the men, arrested in a string of armed raids in Manchester and other parts of the north west, had posed a real and immediate threat to Britain.

Peter Fahy, Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police, said he did not feel embarrassed or humiliated by the lack of charges – adding that he would do the same again.

Police sources said that while the intelligence against the men had been ‘compelling’, it was not matched by evidence gathered from searches of properties, computers and mobile phones.

Danger

Coun Khan – a councillor for Cheetham where four of the raids took place – said: “The Muslim community has always been supportive but we need to make sure that support is not lost. We are reaching a point where there is a danger of that.

“I am not saying the police should not act. I fully support the police and want them to protect us. My concern is that too many times they are getting it wrong. That is affecting the confidence in the relationship between the police and the public – particularly the Muslim community.

“It is having an adverse effect on internal community relations. An independent inquiry must look at the way the police are working and dealing with terrorism. If there are lessons to be learned, they need to be learned quickly.”

Martin Pagel, another Cheetham councillor and former deputy council leader, said: “We all support the police but by the same token there has to be some explanation to people so they can be assured the police are not getting it wrong.”

Explanation

The men were arrested on April 8 after co-ordinated raids on 14 addresses in the north west, including the four in Manchester. The British citizen was arrested in a car on the M602.

He is understood to be a member of Tabligee Jamat, an Islamic group which goes door-to-door in local communities visiting Muslims to reinforce their faith by getting them to pray and attend the mosque.

A Pashtun speaker, he was active in the group in the Cheetham Hill area, according to locals, and has been in Britain for up to nine years. He worked as a delivery driver and regularly attended his local mosque.

Mr Fahy – asked if the arrests had foiled a terror attack – admitted: “We do not know that. We cannot say that. That starts to imply guilt against those people involved.”

But he said that 68 people nationally are on trial or awaiting trial for alleged terrorist offences.

“This shows there’s a real threat to this country,” he said.

Mr Fahy said the police’s actions had been right, given the intelligence.

“I do not feel embarrassed or humiliated by what we have done because we have carried out our duty to protect the people of Greater Manchester,” he said. “I have to put the safety of the public first.

“We do not carry out this sort of operation on a wing or a prayer or on a whim.”

Cheetham has long been the focus of anti-terror measures. The area is a mile from the Crumpsall Lane flat where Det Con Stephen Oake was stabbed to death during an anti-terror raid.

And late last year, Habib Ahmed, a taxi driver from Cheetham, was jailed for 10 years for his role in a plot to build a Manchester terror cell.

Nelson Mail (NZ) : Police defend terrorism raids as suspects freed

Police defend terrorism raids as suspects freed

Reuters | April 23, 2009

British police have denied making an embarrassing mistake after releasing all 12 men seized in raids to foil a suspected al Qaeda plot that were brought forward due to a security breach.

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

Police said all the suspects had been released although 11 had been handed over to immigration officials and face deportation on national security grounds.

Prosecutors said there was insufficient evidence to justify holding them any longer or bringing charges, Greater Manchester Police (GMP) said.

"This is not a mistake. I do not feel embarrassed or humiliated by what we have done because we have carried out our duty," GMP Chief Constable Peter Fahy told reporters.

"We do not carry out this sort of operation or make these sorts of arrests on a wing or a prayer or a whim. We can only operate to one standard, and that standard is that people are innocent until they are proved guilty."

The raids were mounted several hours ahead of schedule after a blunder by Britain's top counter-terrorism officer Bob Quick.

A document on the operation was photographed by journalists as Quick carried it to a briefing for Brown. Quick resigned a day later but Fahy said the mistake had not compromised the operation.

Police have been on high alert since the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States and especially after four young British Islamists carried out suicide bombings on London's transport network in July 2005, killing 52 people.

Dozens have been convicted of plotting bombings since 2001 and currently 68 people are on trial or awaiting trial for terrorism offences, said Fahy.

However, it is not the first time that suspects have been freed after claims that a major terrorism plot had been foiled.

In 2004, GMP arrested 10 people in raids involving some 400 officers amid media speculation of a plot to blow up Manchester United's Old Trafford stadium during a high-profile game.

They were all freed without charge.

The most notorious case occurred in 2006 when officers, some wearing chemical, biological and radiological protection suits stormed a house in east London looking for a suspected bomb, and shot one of the occupants.

No bomb was found and police later admitted their intelligence had been faulty.

"When we look at the record of the anti-terrorist police across the whole country but especially Scotland Yard, their record is actually very, very good," said security consultant Peter Ryan, a former national director of UK police training.

The Muslim Council of Britain said arrests were understandable but criticised Brown, who had also angered Pakistani officials by calling on Pakistan to do more to "root out the terrorist elements in its country."

"We would hope that senior ministers and the Prime Minister will understand that it is completely unfair to make prejudicial and premature remarks in cases like this," said spokesman Inayat Bunglawala.

He added the decision to deport the men following their release was "very dishonourable."

Mohammed Ayub, a defence lawyer for some of the suspects, said: "This seriously damaged police credibility. The arrests happened in a blaze of publicity but finally amount to nothing."

The Stirrer : A Study In Terror

A STUDY IN TERROR

April 23, 2009

Released without charge after nearly two weeks police interrogation over an alleged terror plot, nearly a dozen Pakistani students are now being further detained by immigration officials pending deportation as ‘a threat to national security’. Legitimate incarceration or just the State trying to cover it’s back asks Steve Beauchampe?

All twelve men arrested in a blaze of publicity over what quickly came to be known as the ‘Easter Bomb Plots’ (aka Operation Pathway) are innocent. We know they are because despite a huge and unparalleled raft of anti-terror legislation (much of it introduced in recent years) which allows the police to press charges for activities with only the most tenuous of links to the planting of bombs, or to killing or maiming, the twelve have been released without charge.

This after thirteen days of what will undoubtedly have been intense and repeated questioning. Indeed, Greater Manchester Police, who carried out the arrests on behalf of MI5, didn’t even consider it necessary to apply to a High Court Judge for an extension of the mens’ detention of up to 28 days, as the law allows.

From start to finish this case has been an embarrassment and PR disaster for the police, senior politicians and the security services, an expose of their incompetence from the moment Scotland Yard Assistant Commissioner for Special Operations Bob Quick exited a car brandishing a document showing details of the counter intelligence operation, a gaffe for which he quickly resigned.

Within hours the media were carrying claims that the arrests had foiled a massive terror attack designed to bring Eastertide carnage to the North West, with shopping meccas such as Manchester’s Arndale and Trafford centres and the city’s Birdcage nightclub said to be the prime targets.

Unnamed police sources were quoted as saying there was an ‘imminent and credible threat’ and that ‘these are the most significant terrorism arrests for some time’. In the headlong rush to publish the most lurid scare stories few stopped to consider the chronology. Apparently the arrests had been brought forward following Quick’s unwitting expose. Really? By how much? It was all but Easter anyway!

Meanwhile Prime Minister Gordon Brown, having claimed that, “we are dealing with a very big terrorist plot”, was issuing stern warnings to Pakistan to stop sending would-be terrorists to Britain under the guise of being students, while the Pakistani High Commissioner to Britain was telling the UK to tighten who it issues student visas to.

So where exactly did the media get their stories from, given that specific details of the case had not been officially released? The Met? MI5? Greater Manchester Police? the Home Office? Downing Street?

We may never be told, but many of these organisations have form when it comes to information leaks and there are plenty of jobbing journalists and editors around, increasingly used to simply reproducing press releases, who are more than willing to parrot such ‘information’ seemingly without question in order to make good copy.

So are the arrested men, all but one of them living in the UK on student visas, allowed to return to their studies? Like heck they are!

Instead, they are summarily passed to the Borders and Immigration Service (BIS) in readiness for deportation (eleven of the twelve are Pakistani nationals) on the grounds that they pose a threat to national security.

This vague, indefinable piece of legalese jargon provides the security services with an escape clause, a way of avoiding their culpability for yet another security cock up. Kick out the Muslims while labelling them as terrorists who got away with it. Ruin their reputations and damn the concept of innocent until proven guilty, anything to avoid admitting failings and offering redress.

No one disputes that the police have a duty to arrest and question those whom they believe may be engaged in criminal activity, but it is the spin and politicking that so often accompanies high profile cases that leaves such a sour taste. Because the State and its servants are rarely honorable enough to say sorry, acknowledge their mistakes and recognise the impact these have on innocent lives.

Ask the Birmingham Six or the Guildford Four, still waiting to hear for the ‘s’ word for the gross crimes committed against them by the British judicial system. Ask Barry George; when George was cleared of murdering of Jill Dando in 2008, following many years in prison, the Met pronounced themselves, not contrite, but ‘disappointed’.

Ask the Forest Gate Two, shot at and nearly killed during a bungled police anti-terror raid at their home and who eventually successfully sued the police for damages. Ask the student arrested and interrogated for a week in 2008 (and recently interviewed on Radio 4) after downloading a ‘terrorist’ training document (having first received authorisation from his university) and then warned that if he did so again, despite their being no grounds on which to charge him the first time, he would be re-arrested.

And ask the doctor cleared in the 2007 Glasgow bomb plot, lurid and wholly inaccurate stories about him repeatedly splashed over the newspapers, yet when declared innocent last autumn also subjected to deportation attempts by the BIS, a body seemingly more interested in pandering to tabloid immigration fears than overseeing a fair and equitable public service.

And ask Colin Stagg, cleared of the murder of Rachel Nickel. Stagg did get an apology but only after waiting many years before someone in the Met finally acknowledged how their incompetence had ruined his life and reputation.

Arguably worse is what increasingly appears to be the police and security services’ default position of covering up failings by ‘leaking’ erroneous or irrelevant information about innocent victims in an attempt to sully their good character, as in the case of John Charles De Menezes, or newspaper seller Ian Tomlinson, who died following a police assault at the recent G20 protests.

Still, out of sight, out of mind. The twelve former Easter terror suspects may still be alive, but back in Pakistan, they’ll be less of a thorn in the British Government’s side, less able to sue the newspapers who so readily defamed them, less able to challenge or disprove the unsubstantiated allegations inherent in their deportation, less able to talk about their no doubt terrifying experiences as innocent men in custody.

Meanwhile, community relations particularly in the North West where the men resided, are further set back, diplomatic relations with Pakistan placed under strain. And the next time we read of a major terror threat being plotted or foiled, a few more folk will be just that bit more sceptical and unbelieving. And that could be dangerous or it could be healthy, but if you cry wolf enough times...

The Sun : Apology Call Over 'Terror 12'

Apology Call Over 'Terror 12'

By GUY PATRICK | April 23, 2009

THE last of 12 suspects held over an alleged Easter bomb plot were freed without charge yesterday.

Their release came as Mohammed Ayub — lawyer to three of the men — said the men should receive an “unreserved apology”.

He said: “Our clients have no criminal history and were here lawfully.

“Our clients are neither extremists nor terrorists.”

All the men have been transferred to the UK Borders Agency — and 11 face deportation back to their native Pakistan.

Opposition politicians called the release an “embarrassment” to Home Secretary Jacqui Smith.

Police swooped on them two weeks ago after ex-terror chief Bob Quick was pictured carrying documents about the raids.

The Muslim Council of Britain accused Gordon Brown of “dishonourable” behaviour for saying the authorities were investigating a major terror plot.

Chicago Tribune : ENGLAND: Last of 12 terrorism suspects freed

ENGLAND: Last of 12 terrorism suspects freed

Authorities claimed at the time of the arrests that police had disrupted 'a very big terrorist plot'

April 23, 2009

LONDON -- British police released the last of 12 suspects rounded up in a series of dramatic anti-terrorism raids earlier this month, without charging any of the men, authorities said Wednesday.

The news was an embarrassment for British authorities, including Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who claimed at the time of their arrests that police had disrupted "a very big terrorist plot" that had been monitored "for some time."

The arrests were rushed in part because a police commissioner inadvertently exposed details of the operation to a photographer outside the prime minister's office.

Police had to scramble to catch the suspects before they learned of the leak, forgoing their usual dawn raids for a dramatic series of daytime operations across northern England on April 8.

Assistant Commissioner Bob Quick, one of the country's top counterterrorism officers, resigned after he exposed details of the operation.

Most of the men taken into custody were Pakistanis in Britain on student visas.

British officials have said they want to deport all but one of the men on national security grounds, but that may be difficult. A lawyer for three of the men said his clients would fight to continue their education in the United Kingdom, while Islamabad opposes deportation.

Times : Inquiry to be held into anti-terror operation which caused Bob Quick's resignation

Inquiry to be held into anti-terror operation which caused Bob Quick's resignation

Sean O'Neill and Russell Jenkins | April 23, 2009

The anti-terrorist operation that led to the resignation of a senior policeman, armed raids, the search of 14 properties but ultimately no charges, is to be the subject of an independent inquiry.

Lord Carlile of Berriew, the reviewer of terrorism legislation, said that he would carry out “a snapshot review” of the detention of 12 men picked up a fortnight ago in Manchester, Liverpool and Lancashire, amid claims of an Easter bomb plot. Gordon Brown said at the time that the authorities had foiled “a very big terrorist plot”.

The release of the final two suspects yesterday means that all 12 have been freed without charge. However, 11 of them, Pakistani citizens in Britain on student visas, face deportation on national security grounds, a process that is likely to spark lengthy legal challenges.

Lord Carlile said that he had personally decided to review Operation Pathway, details of which were accidentally disclosed to Downing Street photographers by Assistant Commissioner Bob Quick of Scotland Yard, forcing the arrests to be brought forward. Mr Quick resigned, admitting that he had compromised the operation.

Lord Carlile said: “I shall be requesting input into these events from all involved as soon as possible. This will include those arrested and their legal representatives.”

The only British citizen among those freed was named locally as Hamza Shenwari, 41, a delivery driver, from Cheetham Hill, Manchester. Neighbours said that Mr Shenwari was staying at a hotel while police restored his home to the state it was in before extensive searches.

Afzal Khan, a local Labour councillor, described Mr Shenwari as an “ordinary guy who goes to the mosque to pray”. He added: “I am deeply concerned. On the day of the arrests, people on the streets were saying straight away that they will find nothing, and that it is all political. This has only reinforced that view.”

A Greater Manchester police spokesman said there was insufficient evidence to justify extending the detention of the men. Peter Fahy, the Chief Constable, said that his force was involved in a complex investigation and had acted because of a threat to national security. “When it comes to the safety of the public we can’t take any chances. We must act on information we receive,” he added.

“We don’t take these decisions lightly and only carry out this kind of action if it was wholly justified.”

There are growing recriminations, however. Security sources say that the 12 men were under round-the-clock surveillance and were arrested on the basis of intelligence “chatter” alone. It was hoped that searches might unearth bombmaking equipment or that computers would yield evidence of terrorist planning but no evidence to support a prosecution was found.

The failure of the operation raises questions about the level of co-operation between different anti-terror agencies. MI5, Scotland Yard and Greater Manchester are said to have had angry disagreements about the timing of the arrests. Mr Fahy denied that there were disputes between agencies that were supposed to work together. He said: “I do not feel embarrassed or humiliated by what we have done because we have carried out our duty. There’s been no disagreement between us and the security services.”

Sindh Today : Pak asks Britain to not deport students caught during anti-terror raids

Pak asks Britain to not deport students caught during anti-terror raids

April 23, 2009

Islamabad, Apr 23 (ANI): Pakistan has asked the British government not to deport its citizens who were rounded up on suspicion of links with terrorists, but were later released, as the UK Police could not produce evidence against them.

Pakistan Foreign Office spokesman Abdul Basit said students had to undergo a harsh time behind bars and now it is up to the UK Government to compensate the students.

Earlier, a lawyer for the three Pakistani men facing deportation after being arrested in anti-terror raids earlier this month said his clients will fight to stay on in Britain.

Mohammed Ayub said the men are in Britain lawfully on student visas, are not extremists and have done nothing wrong.

The men were among a group of 12 swept up in a highly publicised counter-terrorism operation across northern England earlier this month, the Dawn reported.

British police on Tuesday released nine of the arrested men into the custody of immigration authorities. The men, aged between 22 and 38, are now being held by the UK Border Agency, which controls immigration into Britain, and face deportation.

They were originally arrested in the raids on April 8. One man was released into the custody of the UK Border Agency three days later.

The government has come under pressure to strengthen its visa rules after it emerged that 10 of the 11 arrested Pakistani men were in Britain on student visas, while one was a British national.

The raids had to be brought forward after Britain’s top counter-terrorism policeman was photographed holding clearly legible briefing notes on the operation. He resigned over the gaffe, although Home Secretary Jacqui Smith told lawmakers this week the investigation had not been compromised. (ANI)

Mercury (Zambia) : 'Plotters' in UK released

'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.

Telegraph & Argus : Bradford man held in terror-plot raid demands pay-out

Bradford man held in terror-plot raid demands pay-out

By Steve Wright | April 23, 2009

A Bradford man arrested after a swoop by anti-terror officers says he will claim compensation from the police for unlawful detention.

The 41-year-old family man, who has not been named, was one of 12 people arrested in anti-terror raids in the north-west on April 8. He was the only Briton detained. The rest were Pakistani nationals, with all but one holding student visas.

The planned raids had been brought forward after the Metropolitan Police’s assistant commissioner Bob Quick inadvertently revealed details of the operation, and later resigned.

An 18-year-old was released into the custody of the UK Border Agency within days. The others were all freed without charge yesterday after the Crown Prosecution Service said there was insufficient evidence.

The suspect’s links to Bradford were revealed by leading city law firm Khan’s Solicitors, based in Sunbridge Road, Bradford, who represented him.

Solicitor and director of the company, Rashid Majid, said they had won two legal arguments on behalf of their client, before a senior District Judge at Westminster magistrates court, and before a High Court judge, Mr Justice Black.

Mr Majid said: “We put forward two arguments, under Article 5 of the European Convention of Human Rights.

“One was that any suspect was entitled to be given adequate reasons for their arrest, and secondly they should have enough information so they could challenge the lawfulness of their detention. Both judges expressed serious concerns and Mr Justice Black held that there had been a breach of Article 5 and our client should be entitled to compensation.

“As a result, their detention for a week was held to be unlawful. We will now write to the police and ask them for proposals for compensation.”

Mr Majid said their client had never been arrested before and was of previous good character.

The suspect had been arrested at an address in Cheetham Hill, Manchester, but was formerly from Bradford and had worked in a cash and carry shop in West Bowling. Mr Majid said the client’s immediate plans now were to go back to Manchester and rebuild his life.

Three of the other suspects released yesterday – Sultan Sher, Mohammed Rizwan Sharif and Mohammed Umer Farooq – were represented by another Bradford solicitor, Mohammed Ayub, of Chambers Solicitors, also in Sunbridge Road.

Peter Fahy, Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police, said they had had a duty to act and investigate.

“When it comes to the safety of the public we can’t take any chances – we must act on information we receive,” he said.

“We don’t take these decisions lightly and only carry out this kind of action if it was wholly justified.”

Independent : Terror raids: 'The officers got bad information and are using it to scare everyone'

Terror raids: 'The officers got bad information and are using it to scare everyone'

By Jonathan Brown | April 23, 2009

The last two officers on duty outside the former home of Hamzah Khan Shenwari, the only British national arrested in the raids, slipped away quietly yesterday afternoon.

They had been on duty outside the modest red brick terrace house around the clock since dozens of heavily armed officers swooped on an unsuspecting Galsworthy Avenue in Cheetham Hill, Manchester, 13 days ago with the aim of smashing an alleged terrorist plot. But as mothers walked with prams and children returned from school in the sunshine yesterday, the shock troops were long gone. So too were the forensic teams that had toiled for the best part of two weeks trying to find evidence against the two men that lived there. Shortly after lunch it was the turn of the uniformed guards to take their leave.

Mr Shenwari, who at 42 was the oldest of the group of associates, was considering his future with friends yesterday, hoping to make contact with his wife and children in Pakistan and make sure they were safe. Unlike the others he is not facing deportation but he wasn't planning on coming back to Cheetham Hill anytime soon, his lawyer Sawar Khan said.

The security guard's former neighbours meanwhile were left feeling a sense of both vindication and frustration that their community had once again been thrust into the unwelcome media spotlight. Ummair Shafiq, 21, has lived in and around Galsworthy Drive with his two brothers, sister and numerous cousins, all his life. "I can tell you what everyone thinks around here and that is that there is no terrorism," said the 21-year-old part-time student. "The police got bad information and they are just using it to scare everyone. It is just scare tactics.

"These people are not terrorists, they work nine to five, they are very religious. We have got used to it here. Every year there is going on to do with terrorism – it has become a daft game. But now people are afraid to talk and joke in case they get accused of being in al-Qa'ida. It is creating paranoia," he said.

Mohammed Mohammed, 19, said he had admired Mr Shenwari, praying with him at the local mosque. "He made me very welcome. I never expected something like this to happen," he said. "It makes me think that last time they took an innocent man now they might take me as well. But when we come to a country as Muslims we must obey the rules."

One Muslim father of four, who asked not to be identified, said he was glad to be back to normal after putting up with police cars running outside his house in the middle of the night, keeping his children awake. He said he was growing tired of explaining to them what was going on. "Every day they are asking me questions. They should have made sure everything was correct."

Independent : Police and PM in dock over arrest of terrorist suspects

Police and PM in dock over arrest of terrorist suspects

Case against Muslim men amounted to one email and handful of telephone conversations

By Jonathan Brown, Robert Verkaik and Kim Sengupta | April 23, 2009

The case against 12 Muslim men involved in what Gordon Brown described as a "major terrorist plot" amounted to one email and a handful of ambiguous telephone conversations, it emerged last night after all the men were released without charge.

Eleven Pakistani students and one British man were freed after extensive searches of 14 addresses in North-west England failed to locate evidence of terrorist activity, according to security sources. Police did not find any explosives, firearms, target lists, documents or any material which could have been used to carry out an attack.

Last night Lord Carlile, the reviewer of terror laws, said he would be heading an immediate "snapshot" investigation into the arrests.

The Home Office said it would deport the 11 Pakistani men, who are aged 22 to 38 and were in Britain on student visas, because the Government believed they represented a threat to national security.

According to security sources, the operation was launched after the interception of telephone calls and emails which pointed towards a bombing campaign orchestrated by al-Qa'ida. But yesterday a senior Pakistani defence official said the British authorities had failed to consult them adequately before carrying out the arrests and greater co-operation would have avoided "embarrassing mistakes" for the British Government.

The official said: "They really started asking for our help properly after the arrests had been made over here. We have not arrested anyone in Pakistan, the families of these men or their friends, because we could not find anything against them, and we have a big file on terrorist suspects."

It has also emerged that there were disagreements among the various British security agencies about the way aspects of the operation were conducted.

Muslim groups and lawyers for the 12 men arrested two weeks ago in connection with the alleged terror attack plot on the North-west said the police operation had been a fiasco from start to finish.

The only British man questioned for 13 days in connection with the alleged plot may have been held on the strength of a single "cryptic" email, it emerged last night.

Lawyers for Hamzah Khan Shenwari, a 42-year-old security guard and delivery driver from Cheetham Hill, Manchester, disclosed that he had entered Britain nine years ago and was granted political asylum following his treatment at the hands of the Taliban. The Pashtu-speaker, who comes from the North West Province of Pakistan, where his family and children still live, was questioned over the course of 14 hours at a police station in Coventry although no substantial evidence was put before him, it was claimed. He claims he suffered bruises and a cracked rib during his arrest. Police believed that he was the "teacher" of the group because he was the oldest, his lawyers said.

His solicitor, Sawar Khan, said: "He was elated this morning but his words to me were 'it is going to be difficult for me'. Even though he has been released without charge how will he be treated now? Most of the men come from north-west Pakistan but where they come from or what faith they are should not be a deciding factor in anything."

Lawyers for the men are furious that Gordon Brown and the Home Secretary made statements on the alleged plot during their detention period. Mr Khan said it was regrettable that, even though his client had been released, the Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police had again talked up the threat of an unspecified terrorist attack.

He said there were question marks over the initial detention period of his client between 8 and 14 April. He was eventually released after Mr Justice Blake, who heard the application for a third extension of custody via a video link in the High Court, expressed "grave concern" over the progress of the investigation.

Mr Khan said Mr Shenwari was not seeking publicity or money. Police appeared to have few definite facts during the course of the questioning, it was claimed and no surveillance evidence was put to him. "A lot of the questions were repeated – he was asked whether he was involved in the preparation or instigation of terrorism."

Mr Shenwari, who does not own a computer, was asked by police about an email sent by one of the arrested men although the contents of the message were never made available to his defence team. It is understood that the email was cryptic and open to misinterpretation if taken out of context.

Mohammed Ayub said he would consider lodging an appeal for asylum on behalf of his clients, Sultan Sher, Mohammed Rizwan Sharif and Mohammed Umer Farooq, who were held at a police station in Bradford where they underwent up to six hours of questioning a day.

Mr Ayub said his clients, who all came from the North West Frontier territories of Pakistan, faced serious dangers should they be returned to their homeland.

"They face an uncertain future in Pakistan now they have been labelled as being engaged in potential terrorist activity," he said. "They cannot go back to living normal lives in Pakistan. The authorities may be obliged to put them into custody where they may be subjected to torture," he said.

"They were sustained by the belief that they were not involved in any wrongdoing and they maintained their innocence throughout. What put the police on to them in the first place? That is a very difficult question," he said.

During the interviews, Mr Ayub said no specific evidence had been put to his clients – no video footage or surveillance photographs were shown to them, though they were asked directly whether they were members of al-Qa'ida. Last night, 10 of the men were being held at detention centres. Their lawyers have seven days to present their cases to an appeals panel.

~~~

The North-west arrests: Key questions

When were the men arrested?

Manchester police officers were rushed into making the arrests after Bob Quick, then Britain's senior counter-terrorism officer, accidentally displayed information prejudicing the operation. Officers raided homes and universities across the North-west of England on 8 April. Twelve men were arrested under the Terrorism Act 2000. Mr Quick later resigned.

How long were they held?

One was released to the UK Borders Agency while the remaining 11 were questioned by police. Under terror laws suspects can be held without charge for up to 28 days. By yesterday all 12 had been released, two weeks before the maximum time limit expired.

Why didn't the police keep the men in custody longer?

The Terrorism Act includes judicial safeguards to ensure that the police are not simply detaining people while conducting "fishing expeditions" for evidence. The first time the police sought judicial permission was after 48 hours of detention. But they had to go back to court to authorise detention every week. After 14 days' detention the Crown Prosecution Service asked further permission from a High Court judge to keep the men in custody. It is understood that at this point the judge expressed concerns about the quality of the evidence being used to justify their detention. The investigation had clearly made little progress and the men were released.

What did the judge have to decide?

The court must be satisfied that there are reasonable grounds for believing that further detention will help obtain or preserve relevant evidence. But the judge must also be happy that the investigation is being conducted "diligently and expediently".

What happens next?

The Home Office says it will deport the 11 Pakistanis on grounds of national security. It is understood that the men want to carry on their studies in the UK and their lawyers are expected to go to court to contest this action.

Who will win?

It's hard to say. The Home Office must show that the men's presence in the UK is not conducive to the public good or that they represent a threat to national security. Their lawyers will argue that no evidence has been provided to support such a claim. The case is expected to end up before the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (Siac) which can hear evidence in secret.

What are they likely to say?

In the past Siac has blocked deportations to countries where the suspects face possible torture or execution. Now that the 11 students have been arrested on suspicion of what Gordon Brown described as a "major terrorism plot" they will almost certainly be of interest to the Pakistan security forces.

So what threat do they face upon their return?

The Pakistan police and security forces are known to have tortured terror suspects, some of whom are British citizens. Pakistan also retains the death penalty. Now that the names of the students are known to the Islamabad authorities the men may wish to pursue claims for asylum in the UK on humanitarian grounds.

How long will this case take?

It could go on for years. Several Algerians are still being held in the UK five years after they were accused of links to terrorism. It has taken that long for the House of Lords to rule that they can be safely deported.

Robert Verkaik

Pakistan Times : All Pakistani students released without charge in UK

All Pakistani students released without charge in UK

'Pakistan Times' Foreign Desk | April 23, 2009

LONDON (UK): In a major embarrassment to the British Government all of the 12 suspects, ten of whom were Pakistani students, arrested by the UK counter terrorism unit in north west England have been released without any charge Wednesday.

On Tuesday evening, the authorities in Manchester released nine of the suspects and handed them over into the custody of the UK Borders Agency for deportation. This morning, on the expiry of the remand period, the remaining two were also freed and released to immigration authorities.

These men were arrested on April 9 in a major swoop termed by the Prime Minister Gordon Brown as a “big terrorist plot.” One suspect believed to be an Afghan national was released much earlier and also handed over the Borders Agency. The other was a British national who has been allowed to return to the community.

The remaining 11 men were questioned and the evidence gathered presented to the Crown Prosecution Service who advised there was insufficient evidence gathered within the permitted timescales which would have allowed a warrant of further detention to be gathered or charges to be pursued.

Under the rules, it is not possible to bail people under terrorism legislation so the men were released. The Manchester Police head Peter Fahy defended the arrests which he said was done on the information received. He said: “As there are ongoing issues of matters of national security around this investigation, it does limit what we are able to say.

“This has been an extremely complex investigation that has involved officers working closely with other agencies to gather and examine large amounts of evidence. “We had a duty to act on 9 April to protect the public and a subsequent duty to investigate what lay before us.

“When it comes to the safety of the public we can’t take any chances, we must act on information we receive. We don’t take these decisions lightly and only carry out this kind of action if it was wholly justified.”

The Pakistan High Commissioner Wajid Shamsul Hasan welcomed the release of the students but stated that they have asked the British government the reasons to deport them even though they hold valid visas. “We are ready to extend the students all legal assistance as they came to UK on valid visas and have the right to stay here and complete their studies now that all charges against them have been dropped.”

Meanwhile, one of the lawyers representing the students has demanded public inquiry into the whole episode saying that the reputation of his client has been hurt.

Details

Another report says that after apparently failing to find any solid evidence linking to terrorism, the British Police has released nine out of ten Pakistani students arrested on April 8 on suspicion of terror and transferred them into the custody of UK Borders Agency for possible deportation.

The Manchester-based North West Counter Terrorism Unit has released nine of those arrested as part of a national operation. The men, aged 30, 38, 22, 25, 28, 26, 26, 22 and 25 have all been handed over into the custody of the UK Borders Agency. Two men remain in police custody.

On April 8 officers from anti-Terrorism Unit arrested 12 men under the Terrorism Act. One was subsequently released into the custody of the UK Borders Agency. The remand of the arrested students was due to expire on Wednesday.

The Manchester Police in a statement said these arrests were carried out after a number of UK agencies gathered information that indicated a potential risk to public safety. Protecting the public is the main focus of the police, the statement added. It said that the officers are continuing to review a large amount of information gathered as part of this investigation and investigations of this nature are extremely complex.

Anti-terror police raided at least 14 properties in Liverpool, Manchester, and Clitheroe, Lancashire, on April 8. Searches are continuing at an address at Galsworthy Avenue, Cheetham Hill, Manchester.

According to a Home Office spokesman the UK was now seeking to remove the men 'on grounds of national security'. Of the 12 men arrested in the raids, 11 were Pakistani nationals, 10 held student visas and one was from Britain. The spokesman said: 'The government’s highest priority is to protect public safety. Where a foreign national poses a threat to this country we will seek to exclude or to deport, where this is appropriate.'

The raids in north-west England had to be brought forward following a blunder by the UK’s most senior counter-terror officer. Assistant Commissioner Bob Quick quit his post a day after the operation, when he was photographed carrying the document to the Downing Street which revealed operational details.

Lawyer [Reacts]

Meanwhile, a lawyer representing three of 10 Pakistani students arrested on suspicion of terrorism and released Wednesday without charge, has said his clients are neither extremists nor terrorists and have the right to demand unreserved apology and will also challenge orders to remove them from the UK.

Mohammed Ayub, who represents three men facing deportation after being handed over to the UK Borders Agency, said in a statement that Sultan Sher, Mohammad Rizwan Sharif and Muhammad Umer Farooq were arrested in a blaze of publicity and speculation. He said: “Today, after 13 days in custody, during which no evidence of any wrongdoing was disclosed, they have now been released without charge. Our clients were arrested in a blaze of publicity and speculation. Their release without charge and the wrong that has been done to them deserves to be accompanied by a similar amount of publicity.

Ayub added that his clients have no criminal history, they were here lawfully on student visas and all were pursuing their studies and working part-time. “Their arrest and detention has been a very serious breach of their human rights. Now, adding insult to injury, attempts are being made to deport them. We intend to challenge the deportation orders and, if necessary, will take our fight to the highest courts.

“Our clients are entirely innocent and are entitled to complete the studies they came here for. We call for an independent inquiry into Operation Pathway so that lessons can be learned as to how this investigation could have got it so terribly wrong and so that no other innocent person should have to suffer the ordeal that our clients have.

The UK Border Agency has issued deportation orders on the basis of their being involved in extremist activity and therefore their presence in the UK is not conducive to the public good on the grounds of national security, he said by adding; his clients intended to appeal the deportation orders and their basis for the orders is not acceptable. “As a minimum our clients are entitled to an unreserved apology and no further action should be taken against them.”

The Hindu : U.K. plot collapses, Pakistanis to be deported

U.K. plot collapses, Pakistanis to be deported

Hasan Suroor | April 23, 2009

LONDON: An alleged terror plot which led to the arrests, two weeks ago, of 10 Pakistani nationals living in U.K. on student visas has collapsed with the police admitting that they had failed to find any hard evidence to charge them.

While one had already been released, the remaining nine were released on Wednesday and ordered to be deported back to Pakistan.

Two men, including a British national of Pakistani origin, are still in custody.

The 12 were arrested after a series of dramatic raids in north-west England, including Manchester and Lancashire, for allegedly planning what Prime Minister Gordon Brown described as a “very big plot”. The police claimed that the “plot” was in “final” stages of planning and probably timed for the Easter weekend.

Diplomatic row

The arrests sparked a diplomatic row with Pakistan after Mr. Brown accused Islamabad of not doing enough to check terrorism.

The police on Wednesday said they were “continuing to review a large amount of information gathered as part of this investigation”.

Muslim groups criticised the police for making “premature” claims and called for the government to admit that it had made a mistake. Inayat Bunglawala of the Muslim Council of Britain accused the government of acting in a “dishonourable” way. “Politics should not be interfering with what is primarily a legal process.”

Mohammed Ayub, lawyer for three of the students, said the deportation orders should be revoked and they be allowed to continue their studies.

© Copyright 2000 - 2008 The Hindu

SMH : British 'terrorist' suspects released

British 'terrorist' suspects released

Paola Totaro | Herald Correspondent in London | April 23, 2009

ALL 12 men arrested in armed, daylight raids to thwart what the British Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, described as "a very big terrorist plot" have been released without charge.

The men were all taken into custody on April 8 in an operation launched prematurely after Scotland Yard's counter-terrorism boss, Bob Quick, accidentally exposed details of the plan to the lenses of Downing Street photographers as he visited Mr Brown for a briefing.

Eleven of the men - all Pakistani - face deportation after their transfer overnight into the custody of the UK Border Agency. Failure to bring charges against any of the men emerged as British police were forced to release the final two suspects they had in custody last night.

The first men to be freed, aged between 22 and 38, had spent 13 days in detention, while an 18-year-old student was transferred to the custody of the UK Border Agency after three days.

Mohammed Ayub, a lawyer for three of the men, has called for an independent inquiry into the operation, warning the deportation orders would also be challenged.

"Our clients have no criminal history, they were here lawfully on student visas and all were pursuing their studies and working part-time," he said.

"They are neither extremists nor terrorists. Their arrest and detention has been a serious breach of their human rights. As a minimum they are entitled to an unreserved apology."

Mr Quick, the Assistant Commissioner for Specialist Operations, resigned his post after the bungle, admitting that he had compromised a high-level security operation. The Home Secretary, Jacqui Smith, defended the operation in the House of Commons this week, insisting that the raids had been brought forward "by a matter of hours".

However, The Times of London reported last night that that even before Mr Quick quit there had been serious disagreement between Scotland Yard, which is supposed to have national responsibility for counter-terrorism, the North West Counter-Terrorism Unit, led by Greater Manchester Police, and MI5 over the timing of the raids.

The Times reported security sources saying that the arrests were premature, complaining that police had panicked after picking up intelligence "chatter" that appeared to discuss targets in Manchester.

Ottawa Citizen : U.K. cops defend terror raids after Pakistani suspects released

U.K. cops defend terror raids after Pakistani suspects released

By Prashant Rao, Agence France-Presse | April 22, 2009

LONDON - British police on Wednesday defended anti-terror raids this month that led to the arrests of 12 mostly Pakistani men who were then all released without charge.

The pre-dawn swoops across northwest England on April 8 had been described by Prime Minister Gordon Brown as part of a probe into a "major terrorist plot".

After the two remaining suspects were freed Wednesday, police defended the arrests on the grounds of public safety.

"All of the suspects arrested by the North West Counter Terrorism Unit during the recent operation have now been released," Greater Manchester Police said in a statement.

The statement said prosecutors had advised that there was "insufficient evidence gathered within the permitted timescales which would have allowed a warrant of further detention to be gathered or charges to be pursued."

The suspects were 11 Pakistani nationals, 10 of whom were in Britain on student visas, and a lone Briton.

All the Pakistanis have been handed over to British immigration officials, who have said they will be deported to Pakistan.

Brown's spokesman told reporters Wednesday that the government was "seeking to remove these individuals on grounds of national security.

"The government's highest priority is to protect public safety. Where a foreign national poses a threat to the country, we will seek to exclude or deport them where appropriate."

The raids had to be hastily brought forward after Britain's top counter-terrorism policeman Bob Quick was photographed holding clearly legible briefing notes on the operation. He resigned over the gaffe.

The notes he was carrying into a meeting at Brown's Downing Street offices stated police were investigating a plot that was "AQ-driven", meaning al-Qaida.

But a senior police officer defended the arrests, insisting that no mistakes had been made in the operation.

"I don't feel embarrassed or humiliated about what we have done because we have carried out our duty," Greater Manchester Police's Chief Constable Peter Fahy told reporters on Wednesday.

"I don't think a mistake has been made, no. I do not believe a mistake has been made."

A Muslim community leader in Manchester, however, criticized the police, saying detectives could "not keep getting it wrong" because such instances were "sapping" community confidence in the police.

Of the dozen arrested, one 18-year-old student was released just three days after the anti-terror operation, while nine were freed from police custody Tuesday, with the final two being let go on Wednesday.

The arrests, and the revelations that 10 of the men held were on student visas, have put Brown's government under pressure to tighten its visa rules.

Relatives of the men in Pakistan had pleaded their innocence, and in a statement issued late Tuesday, a British-based lawyer for three of the men said he would challenge any attempt to deport them.

"Our clients have no criminal history, they were here lawfully on student visas and all were pursuing their studies and working part-time," said Mohammed Ayub, who is based in Bradford, northern England.

"Our clients are neither extremists nor terrorists. Their arrest and detention has been a very serious breach of their human rights."

Shami Chakrabarti, director of the human rights group Liberty, described deportation on the grounds of national security as "an extremely shadowy process" and called for assurances from the government that the powers would not be abused.

The BBC reported Wednesday that the case would be independently reviewed by Lord Alexander Carlisle, Britain's independent reviewer of anti-terror laws.

© Copyright (c) AFP

Crime Central : Turf wars over terror fiasco

Turf wars over terror fiasco

April 22, 2009

The blame game over the North-West terror arrest fiasco is in full swing. The intelligence folks say the cops went too early. Scotland Yard says that despite Bob Quick's infamous blunder all the operational decisions were down to Greater Manchester Police, who run the North-West Counter-terrorism Unit. Greater Manchester says there are no disagreements and it acted to protect the public. Lord Carlile, who is going to review the whole sorry affair, will have quite a job on his hands.

Meanwhile, Crime Central would just like to point out that if you went on to the GMP website just a few short months ago and typed the word "terrorism" into the search box, up would pop an anti-terrorist surveillance video. Shot from a car, the rather fuzzy footage showed the "target" running around a Manchester park. Top secret stuff, out there on a public website for all too see.

Guardian : Lord Carlile calls inquiry into terror bomb plot raids

Lord Carlile calls inquiry into terror bomb plot raids

Police deny error as 12 are freed without charge
Lawyers try to stop deportation to Pakistan

Sandra Laville and Helen Carter | April 23, 2009

The operation that led to 12 men being arrested on suspicion of plotting a large al-Qaida atrocity is to be investigated by Lord Carlile, the country's terror watchdog.

Carlile, the independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, said he would carry out a review into the raids, that took place in the north-west of England on the Wednesday before Easter, after all 12 suspects were released without charge.

As lawyers for some of the men said they would resist attempts to deport them to Pakistan, the chief constable of Greater Manchester police, who led the operation, denied his force had been embarrassed.

"I do not believe a mistake was made," said Peter Fahy. "We were faced with a very difficult decision."

The last two suspects were released into the custody of the UK Border Agency by the police yesterday, 24 hours after nine others had been transferred to the border agency for deportation without being charged.

A 12th suspect was released earlier in the operation. Eleven of the men are Pakistani nationals who entered the country on student visas. They now face deportation on the grounds of national security. The 12th is a British national.

Carlile said yesterday he alone had decided to launch an inquiry into the operation, which was co-ordinated by counterterrorist officers from the police in Manchester, London and the security service MI5. His investigation will start next month but he would not commit himself to making the report public.

"The questions I shall raise will centre on (but not necessarily be limited to) the nature and extent of the use of the Terrorism Act 2000 and connected legislation used for the purposes of the operation," he said.

He said the review did not necessarily imply criticism but was part of his ongoing activity. But the decision to mount an inquiry into the arrests, which led to comments by Gordon Brown that the police had foiled a "very big terrorist plot", will be viewed by some as reflecting concern over the way police and politicians are dealing with the terrorist threat.

Fahy acknowledged the concerns of the Muslim community in comments yesterday. But he stood by his force's decision to move in and make the arrests.

"When it comes to the safety of the public we can't take any chances - we must act on information we receive. We don't take these decisions lightly and only carry out this kind of action if it was wholly justified."

He said police were still gathering information but after consultation with the Crown Prosecution Service and a judge there had not been enough evidence to bring charges.

The Guardian understands that the decision to arrest the 12 on 8 April came after discussions between the security service MI5 and the police. Fahy denied that there had been any disagreement with the security services.

There was hope early on that evidence might be found of bombmaking material or on computer disks seized from the suspects' homes, but in the event the police did not find enough evidence even to convince a judge that the men could be held and questioned for the full 28 days available under terror legislation.

A spokesman for Brown said yesterday: "We are seeking to remove these individuals on grounds of national security. Where a foreign national poses a threat to the country we will seek to exclude or deport them where appropriate."

Inayat Bunglawala of the Muslim Council of Britain said the prime minister's comments on the arrests had been prejudicial and premature. "These arrests took place in very dramatic circumstances with students being pulled from universities and thrown to the floor. Instead of releasing them with good grace and making clear a mistake has been made the government is seeking to deport them citing a very vague national security threat."

The raids were brought forward after the country's then head of counterterrorism, assistant commissioner Bob Quick, inadvertently allowed details of the operation to be photographed outside Downing Street. Neither the police nor security services believe the raids were compromised by advancing them.

Al Jazeera : UK police release al-Qaeda suspects

UK police release al-Qaeda suspects

April 22, 2009

British police have released all 12 men arrested in raids earlier this month over a suspected al-Qaeda plot.

Officers did not charge the men, 11 Pakistanis and one Briton, who were seized on April 8 in a raid that had been brought forward due to a security breach.

The arrests, which took place in northwest England, were rushed through after Bob Quick, Britain's senior counter-terrorism officer, was photographed holding notes on the operation.

The security blunder led him to resign a day later.

Gordon Brown, Britain's prime minister, said at the time of the raids that police had foiled "a very big terrorist plot".

Insufficient evidence

The men, 10 of whom held student visas, were arrested in raids in Manchester, Liverpool and Clitheroe in Lancashire.

But prosecutors said there was insufficient evidence to justify holding them any longer or bring charges against them.

Peter Fahy, chief constable for Greater Manchester police, defended the operation.

He said: "We had a duty to act to protect the public and a subsequent duty to investigate what lay before us.

"We don't take these decisions lightly and only carry out this kind of action if it is wholly justified."

All but one of the suspects are expected to be deported on national security grounds.

A lawyer for three of the men said they would fight to stay and continue their education in the UK.

Mohammed Ayub said: "Our clients have no criminal history, they were here lawfully on student visas and all were pursuing their studies and working part-time.

"Our clients are neither extremists nor terrorists. Their arrest and detention has been a very serious breach of their human rights."

Times : The trick is knowing when to intervene and when to wait

The trick is knowing when to intervene and when to wait

Commentary by Andy Hayman | April 22, 2009

Since the atrocities of July 7, 2005, Britain has had to be on full alert in the very real knowledge that an attack by international terrorists could be mounted at any time. When arrests such as those that occurred just before Easter take place, the public holds its breath. Was this the real thing? Or was it the authorities overreacting?

The release without charge of 10 of the 12 suspects will cause public opinion to shift more to the idea that those in power are scaremongering. The view that an attack is a very real possibility will lose credibility.

The difficulty with investigating the threat posed by al-Qaeda, as I found it, is knowing when to make your move. It is one thing to eavesdrop on telephone calls or e-mails. It is a completely different discipline to turn those conversations, which are not admissible in court, into evidence that passes the jury test.

The huge responsibility that goes with the job of fighting terror is judging the balance between when to intervene to stop a possible attack and when to wait, to allow events to unfold so that incriminating evidence can be collected. If you wait too long, there is the danger that public safety is threatened; but waiting that extra hour could be the key to getting the golden nugget that secures a conviction. It is a test of nerve.

The secret is to be in control. Keep the suspects under intensive surveillance and, by doing so, minimise the risk of attack. If the suspects move, you are alongside them. In this case, it appears that the authorities moved to the arrest phase because they thought that an attack was imminent. That was at the expense of waiting a little bit longer to collect evidence, or to establish the lack of it.

Andy Hayman is former Assistant Commissioner for Specialist Operations in the Metropolitan Police

Guardian : All 12 men arrested during anti-terror raids released without charge

All 12 men arrested during anti-terror raids released without charge

Police face criticism over operation but deny that bringing arrests forward disrupted investigation

Sandra Laville, Richard Norton-Taylor and Stephen Bates | April 22, 2009

The government today faced a barrage of criticism after police released without charge the remaining 11 suspects arrested a fortnight ago in the north-west of England over an alleged terror plot.

The last two men to be released joined nine others given their freedom last night and one freed on 11 April.

Opposition parties, human rights lawyers and Muslim groups accused the government of mistreating the suspects and botching the anti-terror operation.

The shadow security minister Baroness Neville-Jones said: "It is very worrying that, following an investigation based on strong intelligence into what the prime minister described as a serious terrorist plot, the police have not been able to present sufficient evidence to the Crown Prosecution Service on which it could lay charges against any of the 12 arrested."

Shami Chakrabarti, director of human rights group Liberty, said: "In the vital task of policing open societies, it is inevitable that you arrest more people than you charge and that sometimes suspicion will never be converted into evidence. But national security deportation is an extremely shadowy process and we need assurances from ministers that these powers will only be used for public safety and not for political signalling."

Gordon Brown had claimed the operation uncovered a "very big plot" against the UK.

In a statement, Greater Manchester police said: "The 11 men were questioned and the evidence gathered presented to the CPS who advised there was insufficient evidence gathered within the permitted timescales which would have allowed a warrant of further detention to be gathered or charges to be pursued.

"It is not possible to bail people under terrorism legislation so the men were released.

"Public safety is always the police's top priority and all information is fully considered and acted upon appropriately to minimise risk to the public."

In a press conference on the steps of the police headquarters, chief constable Peter Fahy said: "These people are innocent and they walk away … there are constant threats to this country but we totally respect the situation, we respect that they are innocent until proved guilty."

Fahy denied that there had been a dispute with the security services or that bringing the arrests forward by up to 12 hours had disrupted the investigation. He criticised speculation by outsiders, including retired officers, and said: "I have not conducted any speculation. I do not feel embarrassed or humiliated by what we have done because we have carried out our duty. I don't think a mistake has been made at all."

The BBC reported that security services continued to maintain that a terrorist plot had been disrupted by the operation.

Nine of the men are due to be deported after being handed over to the UK Border Agency but it was not immediately clear what would happen to the last two men. One of the 11 is understood to be a British national. The releases came after investigators spent 13 days searching for evidence following the arrests from a number of addresses in Greater Manchester, Liverpool and Lancashire under the Terrorism Act.

The police operation was condemned today by a spokesman for the Muslim Council of Britain. Inayat Bunglawala told Radio 4's Today programme: "When these arrests took place in very dramatic circumstances with students being pulled from universities and thrown to the floor, we were told by the prime minister, no less, that this was part of a very big terrorist plot. Clearly there just has not been the evidence produced to substantiate such a plot."

The raids led to the resignation of the country's leading counterterrorism officer, Bob Quick, after he inadvertently allowed details of the operation to be photographed. Before the men had been interviewed the prime minister spoke of how the police had foiled a "very big plot", but as early as last Monday it emerged the government had spoken to Pakistani officials seeking reassurances that if the men were deported they would not be tortured.

The Guardian understands the decision to arrest the suspects on 8 April came after a three-way row between MI5, senior officers in the Metropolitan police and the Greater Manchester police. MI5 was strongly of the opinion that the arrests should wait while more intelligence was gathered. But in an example of the tensions between Whitehall counterterrorism officials and their counterparts in the police, the decision was made to take "executive action" even though the intelligence suggested there was little evidence to charge the suspects.

It is understood anti-terrorist officers in the Met disagreed with their counterparts in Greater Manchester that the arrests should be made. But the concern that there was a threat to the public led to the decision being made to move in.

Investigators had hoped to find something at the suspects' homes. But after initially hunting for, and failing to find, bomb-making equipment, they turned to the computers hoping that some evidence of a plot would turn up. They found nothing substantial.

Despite media reports and the plot being talked up by Brown, there was never any evidence that the suspects had identified targets for an attack.

The arrests came several hours earlier than the police had planned after Quick accidentally allowed a top secret briefing document on the raids, Operation Pathway, to be caught on camera by a photographer outside Downing Street, when he went to brief ministers on the action. The error led to his resignation after politicians condemned the security breach.

Officers from the north-west counterterrorism unit arrested 12 men under the Terrorism Act following the raids on 8 April. Of the 12 men initially arrested, 11 were Pakistani nationals, 10 held student visas and one was British.

A 12th suspect, an 18-year-old, was released without charge and handed to the Border Agency for deportation on 11 April.

The arrests led to claims that the student visa system contained loopholes which allowed abuse by people attempting to enter the country for illegal activities.

The government has admitted that the system is flawed and, two weeks ago, introduced tougher measures designed to root out false applications. At the time of the arrests counterterrorism sources expressed the fear that al-Qaida was using Pakistani students not known to the security services.

Sixty-eight people are currently on trial, or awaiting trial for alleged terrorist offences.

According to the Home Office, from 11 September 2001 to 31 March 2007, 1,228 terror-related arrests were made, excluding Northern Ireland.

Since January 2007, 92 people have been convicted in significant terrorist cases with 47 people pleading guilty.

Guardian : Pakistani students' lawyer: 'They are neither extremists nor terrorists'

Pakistani students' lawyer: 'They are neither extremists nor terrorists'

Full text of statement from Mohammed Ayub, who represents three men facing deportation after Operation Pathway arrests

Press Association | April 22, 2009

This is the full statement from Mohammed Ayub, the lawyer representing three of the men – Sultan Sher, Mohammed Rizwan Sharif and Mohammed Umer Farooq – who were yesterday released by Greater Manchester police into the custody of the UK Borders Agency (UKBA) following their arrests on April 8.

"I, Mohammed Ayub of Chambers Solicitors, Bradford, act for three young Pakistani men, all aged in their 20s, who were arrested on 8 April 2009 as part of Operation Pathway.

"Today, after 13 days in custody, during which no evidence of any wrongdoing was disclosed, they have now been released without charge. Our clients were arrested in a blaze of publicity and speculation. Their release without charge and the wrong that has been done to them deserves to be accompanied by a similar amount of publicity.

"Our clients have no criminal history, they were here lawfully on student visas and all were pursuing their studies and working part-time. Our clients are neither extremists nor terrorists.

"Their arrest and detention has been a very serious breach of their human rights. Now, adding insult to injury, attempts are being made to deport them. We intend to challenge the deportation orders and, if necessary, will take our fight to the highest courts.

"Our clients are entirely innocent and are entitled to complete the studies they came here for. We call for an independent inquiry into Operation Pathway so that lessons can be learned as to how this investigation could have got it so terribly wrong and so that no other innocent person should have to suffer the ordeal that our clients have.

"The UK Border Agency has issued deportation orders on the basis of their being involved in Islamist extremist activity and therefore their presence in the UK is not conducive to the public good on the grounds of national security. It is intended to appeal the deportation orders and their basis for the orders is not accepted.

"As a minimum our clients are entitled to an unreserved apology and no further action should be taken against them."

Guardian : Anti-terror raids: police weigh red faces against an atrocity

Anti-terror raids: police weigh red faces against an atrocity

Sandra Laville | The Guardian | April 23, 2009

Imagine if the raids in Greater Manchester had not taken place, a terrorist atrocity had happened and the bodies of victims were pictured being pulled from the wreckage of buildings.

This was no doubt in the mind of every senior police and security services officer when deciding, after three months of intelligence gathering, whether to arrest 12 people suspected of being engaged in extremist activity which could impact directly on innocent members of the public.

Today as senior officers survey the aftermath of the operation they will be feeling bruised and embarrassed. But that, they say, is a price worth paying. The higher price would have been to have waited too long and to see their decision to delay proved spectacularly wrong by a terrorist attack.

While the police and security services are involved in many ways in a no-win situation, they are not helped by the comments some politicians - most notably Gordon Brown - made in the middle of the operation, even before the suspects were interviewed. It was Brown who raised the idea that the police had foiled a big terrorist plot, and it was politicians yesterday who shouted criticism of the police from the sidelines after no evidence was found to charge the men.

The operation began in Pakistan when intelligence suggested the 12 warranted examination. When they arrived in the UK on student visas, the surveillance continued at close hand. So much so that when the police moved in, 12 hours earlier than planned after Bob Quick was photographed carrying his secret notes on operation Pathway into Downing Street, they were so close they were able to arrest one student as he walked across the campus.

Some security experts have argued that because the surveillance was so tight the police could have continued watching the suspects for longer before deciding to act. But past experience has shown that this does not always work, and critics are quick to condemn when terrorist atrocities are carried out by people who were under the radar of counter-terrorism officials.

Today the general public might be doubting the credibility of the threat to the country. Certain communities might feel they have been unfairly targeted. But there is no doubt that the security threat remains high, and there will come another time in the near future when police and security services face the same dilemma.

It is the police's job to take decisions based on assessing risks. And more than any other agency they are likely to press for quick action in the knowledge that a few red faces are worth it if a bigger crime is averted.

Times : All suspects in 'student terror plot' released

All suspects in 'student terror plot' released

Nico Hines and Russell Jenkins | April 22, 2009

All 12 suspects arrested in a security operation to thwart what the Prime Minister called “a very big terrorist plot” have been released without charge.

Eleven of the men - all Pakistani nationals - face being deported after they were transferred into the custody of the UK Borders Agency.

The failure to bring charges against any of the men came after police released the final two suspects they had in custody this morning.

Last night they freed nine men, aged between 22 and 38, after 13 days detention. An 18-year-old student was transferred to the custody of the UK Border Agency after three days in detention.

Mohammed Ayub, a lawyer for three of the men, called for an independent inquiry into Operation Pathway and said their deportation orders would be challenged.

“Our clients have no criminal history, they were here lawfully on student visas and all were pursuing their studies and working part-time,” he said.

“They are neither extremists nor terrorists. Their arrest and detention has been a serious breach of their human rights. As a minimum they are entitled to an unreserved apology.”

Responding to criticism of the police operation, Gordon Brown’s spokesman said: “Both the Home Secretary and the Prime Minister believe they are doing an excellent job in continuing to protect the public from terrorist threats.

"The Government’s highest priority is to protect public safety. Where a foreign national poses a threat to the country, we will seek to exclude or deport them where appropriate.”

The investigation into alleged al-Qaeda activity in the North West involved 14 properties in Manchester, Liverpool and Clitheroe, Lancashire, being searched by specialist teams.

Four uniformed police officers stood guard outside 36, Galsworthy Avenue, in Cheetham Hill where two of the terror suspects were arrested in an armed swoop two weeks ago.

The sunlit street was deserted apart from a few pressmen and one passer-by who shouted aggressively: "Go home - [it's] all over now."

There is, however, deep disquiet about the arrests in the neighbourhood among residents who say that the police has a record of making dramatic terror swoops, disrupting and upsetting the local community but subsequently releasing the suspects for lack of evidence.

Locals cited the the behaviour of Lancashire Police in February when nine men from Burnley and Blackburn on a humanitarian convoy were arrested on the M65 near Preston and later released without charge.

GMP distributed a letter to local residents in an attempt to explain their position.

Afzal Khan, the Labour councillor for Cheetham Hill, said: "I am deeply concerned. On the same day of the arrests people on the streets were saying straight away that they will find nothing and that is is all political. This has only reinforced that view".

The arrests were brought forward by 12 hours after Bob Quick, Scotland Yard’s head of counter-terrorism, accidentally disclosed details of the raids to Downing Street photographers while on his way to brief Gordon Brown and Jacqui Smith, the Home Secretary.

Mr Quick, Assistant Commissioner for Specialist Operations, resigned, admitting that he had compromised a high-level security operation. Ms Smith told the House of Commons this week that the error had not damaged the operation and that the only impact had been that the raids had been brought forward “by a matter of hours”.

However, The Times understands that even before Mr Quick quit there were furious disagreements between Scotland Yard, which is supposed to have national responsibility for counter-terrorism, the North West Counter-Terrorism Unit, led by Greater Manchester Police, and MI5.

Security sources said that the arrests were premature and complained that police had panicked after picking up intelligence “chatter” that appeared to discuss timings and targets. Some of the suspects were allegedly under surveillance while photographing and filming at Manchester shopping centres and a nightclub.

It was hoped that the arrests and searches would produce evidence of bomb-making activity or components.

At one point a block of flats in Liverpool was evacuated but no explosive material was found. Attention later turned to the forensic examination of the suspects’ computers, but sources say that nothing has been found which can incriminate the men.

The Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police, Peter Fahy, said this morning:

“I do not feel embarrassed or humiliated by what we have done because we have carried out our duty. There’s been no disagreement between us and the security services.

“This has been an extremely complex investigation that has involved officers working closely with other agencies to gather and examine large amounts of evidence.

“We had a duty to act on 9 April to protect the public and a subsequent duty to investigate what lay before us."