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February 1, 2007
Beheading Plot In Britain Updated: Ninth Suspect Arrested
The plot to kidnap and behead a British Muslim soldier on videotape which led to the arrests eight men in Birmingham, England continues to unfold. With police still saying that the investigation is at the "foot-hills" of a major inquiry, a ninth terrorist suspect has now been arrested. And a Sky News' crime correspondent has been told by police sources that up to 25 people could have been targeted.
The victim was to be picked out of a hit list of as many as 25 British Muslims and was to be recorded pleading to Prime Minister Tony Blair for his life in return for Britain's pullout of troops from Iraq.
The plotters had been planning the attack for months, and allegedly were ready to strike."This was a terrifying plot which was close to fruition," a senior officer told The Times of London.
It would have been the first terrorist kidnapping and execution in the West and would mark a new strategy of small-scale, propaganda-oriented attacks.
More arrests are likely.
"This remains a dynamic, fluid operation and it is by no means finished," said Assistant Chief Constable David Shaw of West Midlands police. "We are literally right at the foothills of what is a very, very major investigation for us."
Officers suspect the plot was masterminded by a senior al Qaeda member with close ties to Osama bin Laden ...
... The first intended victim, a lance corporal in his 20s who had recently returned from duty in Afghanistan, was to be kidnapped and tortured like Ken Bigley, a 62-year-old British contractor who was seized and murdered in Baghdad in 2004.
Unlike Bigley, who was held for three weeks, the new victim was to be murdered within 72 hours to thwart what the plotters knew would be an extraordinary police search, The Times said.
The victim, said to be under protective custody, was to be portrayed by his kidnappers as a "traitor" to Islam.
Sources said the beheading of the new victim was to air live on a radical Islamic Web site.
Apparently all of the suspects so far are believed to be of Pakistani origin and were arrested after a six-month surveillance operation. For whatever reason, so far, British police have apparently told the Pakistani Foreign Ministry that no Pakistan connection is suspected, but if this is indeed an al-Qaeda connection, we're likely to see this position change.
As has often been the case, at least one of the parents of the suspects expressed "shock" at his son's arrest, as though he had no idea that his son had radical Islamic views (potential customer for Brooklyn bridge?).
Surely there is much more to come.
Related: Sky News pictures
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Posted by Richard at February 1, 2007 7:40 AM
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