MidnightWatcher – Prophecy in Motion

By Vikram Dodd and Richard Norton-Taylor – “Counter-terrorism officers have arrested six men, with the authorities fearing a mass-casualty attack on the British mainland was at an ‘advanced stage’ of planning, the Guardian has learned.

The arrests were made in Birmingham, with six young men arrested on suspicion of preparing terrorist acts, with a 22-year-old woman arrested on suspicion of failing to disclose information.

Police say the alleged plot, which they believe to be al-Qaida inspired, was thwarted after counter-terrorism officials received or developed intelligence about the men.

The arrests took place from 11.30am on Sunday, with the last suspect detained at around 1am on Monday morning. The raids took place in several deprived areas of the city that have sizeable Muslim populations.

The Liberal Democrat conference, which is taking place in Birmingham, was not a target.

West Midlands police said they had led a ‘major counter-terrorism operation’ which was intelligence-led. The operation involved the domestic security service, MI5, with officers from Scotland Yard’s counter-terrorism command supporting the Birmingham-based force.

The terrorist threat level for the UK remained at ‘substantial’ after the arrests. It was lowered from the higher level of ‘severe’ in July.

The series of arrests, described as ‘significant’, suggest the intelligence surrounding them is sufficient to meet the standards required for court evidence.

Whitehall sources described it as a ‘major intelligence-led operation’ and added that the latest arrests showed that the threat from extremist Islamist ideology had not evaporated despite the deaths of Bin Laden and other prominent al-Qaida individuals in recent US drone strikes on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.” Read more.