Guardian : 14 Arrested in U.K. Anti-Terrorism Raids

14 Arrested in U.K. Anti-Terrorism Raids

By BETH GARDINER | Associated Press Writer | September 2, 2006

LONDON (AP) - Fourteen people were arrested in London overnight on suspicion they were involved in training and recruiting for acts of terrorism, police said Saturday.

Police said the arrests were not linked to last month's alleged plot to bomb U.S.-bound passenger jets or to the July 2005 attacks on London's transport network.

Twelve suspects were arrested at a Chinese restaurant in south London that caters to Muslims, the British Broadcasting Corp. said.

About 40 officers raided the restaurant shortly after 10 p.m. Friday, when it was packed with diners, the BBC said. Police would not comment on the report but said the raids followed months of surveillance and investigation.

They said the arrests stemmed from an investigation into terror training and recruitment but declined to elaborate.

The 14 suspects were being held in central London, police said.

The raids came less than a month after the Aug. 9-10 arrests of 25 people in an alleged plot to bomb as many as 10 planes flying from Britain to America. Fifteen of those have since been charged, five have been released and five are being held without charge.

Peter Clarke, head of Metropolitan Police anti-terror efforts, said police and intelligence agents were now attempting to track thousands of people believed to be directly or indirectly involved in terrorism, according to comments made public Friday.

The threat from homegrown terrorism is increasing in Britain, he told the BBC in an interview to be broadcast Sept. 3, an advance transcript said.

``What we've learnt since 9/11 is that the threat is not something that's simply coming from overseas into the United Kingdom,'' Clarke said. ``What we've learned, and what we've seen all too graphically and all too murderously, is that we have a threat which is being generated here within the United Kingdom.''