Six Iraqis at the heart of a dispute over Britain's anti-terrorist legislation are allegedly linked to Al Qaeda in Iraq and were sent to Britain to carry out attacks, two newspapers said Friday. Unnamed government sources told The Guardian and The Times that the men had been detained in November and December last year in central and northern England on suspicion of planning a bombing campaign against British targets. The six suspects, who have not been named, are thought to have been sent to Britain by the late leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.
After being picked up by the authorities, the men were placed under highly restrictive control orders. This meant they were kept under 18-hour curfews, amounting to virtual house arrest in one-bedroom flats. The future of such control orders was called into question Wednesday, however, when the High Court quashed the restraints on the six Iraqis. A spokesman for Home Secretary John Reid, said he "strongly disagreed" with the judgment and would seek to overturn it on appeal. The six Iraqi men arrived in Britain as asylum seekers. |