LONDON: Six people have been arrested in Leeds, in the north of England, under Britainâs anti-terrorist laws, but not in relation to the London bombings 10 days ago, police said on Sunday. West Yorkshire police said the arrests took place on Sunday evening in Beeston, a residential district of Leeds from which two of the four apparent London suicide bombers came. âAt this stage, these arrests are not being linked to the incidents in London,â a police spokeswoman said. âHowever, we are working closely with officers from the Metropolitan Police anti-terrorism branch as part of this inquiry.âLondonâs Metropolitan Police confirmed that the arrests were unrelated to the July 7 bombings in London. One person was arrested in the Leeds area last Thursday as part of a fast-moving investigation into the London bombings that has seen 10 homes and an Islamic bookshop raided in forensic searches.
Also, British secret services last year vetted one of the bombers behind the London attacks and judged he was not a threat, said a report on Sunday. The Sunday Times, citing a senior government source, said intelligence agency MI5 had assessed Mohammad Siddique Khan, but concluded he posed no threat and failed to put him under surveillance. The government refused to be drawn. âWe never comment on the activities of security services,â said one official.
The Sunday Independent newspaper said police had established a link between another bomber, Khan, and Al Qaeda. It said a man who is believed to have attended an Al Qaeda âsummitâ in Pakistan last year had identified Khan from photographs. The Sunday Times said Khan was the subject of a routine assessment by MI5 officers last year after his name cropped up during an investigation into an alleged plot to explode a huge bomb outside a London target, believed to be a Soho nightclub.