The Hindu : Pak student was days away from terror attack: U.K. govt. London (PTI): A U.K.-based Pakistani student, one of the 12 alleged terror suspe

Pak student was days away from terror attack: U.K. govt.

July 29, 2009

London (PTI): A U.K.-based Pakistani student, one of the 12 alleged terror suspects arrested in April, was just "days away" from launching a major terror attack in the country, a secret immigration court has heard.

All the 12 suspects, including 10 Pakistani men, were released without any charge after the Scotland Yard could not produce enough evidence against them.

The Pakistanis were transferred to the custody of the U.K. Borders Agency and await deportation.

Details of the attack as planned by the Pakistani student were revealed during the immigration hearing here.

The student, identified only as 'XC', had used coded emails to discuss a terror plot, the government said.

The police had seized 64 computers in the operation and a number of "oddly-phrased emails" to and from 'XC' were noticed during investigation.

Some emails used the terms "crystal clear", which officials said referred to chemicals, and "weak and difficult to convince" referred to the concentration of the bomb-making chemical hydrogen peroxide, according to reports.

The terror arrests in April were embroiled in controversy even before they could begin. Britain's senior most counter-terrorism officer Bob Quick had to quit after he accidentally revealed details of a major anti-terror operation during a visit to Downing Street on April 8.

This forced the police to advance the planned anti-terror raids in northwest England, to thwart a possible al-Qaeda-linked terror plot.

No signs of any explosive material were found despite extensive searches in Liverpool, Manchester and Lancashire.