UK arrests in counter-terrorism raids

British police arrested 10 people yesterday in raids across the country meant to catch residents the government suspects of planning or participating in attacks abroad, particularly in Iraq.

About 500 police officers took part in the raids, conducted less than a year after four British Muslim suicide bombers killed 52 people on London buses and trains on July 7. British Muslims have been involved in an Israeli bombing and an attempt to blow up an airliner over the Atlantic.

Police arrested eight people in Manchester yesterday, one near Liverpool and one in London. Two people were later released without charge.

"This is a major anti-terrorist operation," Chief Constable Michael Todd of Greater Manchester police told reporters.

"Searching addresses under the Terrorism Act can often take two, three or more days... it will take some time to resolve."

Police sources told Reuters the operation was connected primarily with activities in Iraq, although officers said they could not confirm this. In London, the Home Office (interior ministry) said it had ordered the arrest of five of the suspects under immigration laws because it deemed their presence in Britain as "not conducive to the public good". Under Britain's tough security laws, the five will be eligible for deportation.

A Manchester teenager said he had witnessed one raid. "I woke up at half past three (in the morning) and heard screams," he said. "Three cops (police officers) were in the back (of the street). They said 'don't look'."

Britain has a Muslim population of around 1.7 million. Many of them were angered by Britain's participation in the 2003 US-led invasion and subsequent occupation of Iraq.

Briton Richard Reid - the so-called Shoe Bomber - was arrested by US police in December 2001 for trying to blow up a passenger plane headed to the United States with explosives hidden in his shoes.

Two British Muslims attacked a bar in Tel Aviv in 2003, killing three Israelis. One of them, Asif Mohammed Hanif, blew himself up at the scene while the other, Omar Sharif, fled. He was later found drowned in the sea nearby.