More of the two dozen suspects arrested in the wake of the latest terror alert are expected to be released without charge, according to information received by the Muslim News on Tuesday.
The monthly told IRNA it had learned that "several" of the terrorist suspects arrested last Thursday would soon be released without charge by the police.
One of the 24 arrested in connection with an alleged plot to carry out simultaneous mid-air explosions on flights from the UK to the US was released Friday evening without charge.
Officers from the Anti-Terrorist Branch announced that it was granted warrants on Friday for 22 people to be detained until August 16 and a further warrant on Monday to hold the other one for questioning until the same time.
Police are able to detain terror suspects for up to 28 days without charge under new legislation that came into effect last month.
Official figures show that out of a total of 1,047 people arrested under Britain's Terrorism Act 2000 between September 2001 and June 30, 2006 only 158 have been charged with terrorist offences.
Of these, around 60 are awaiting trial.
The latest arrests led Britain for the first time to put the country on a maximum `critical' terror alert last week and impose unprecedented security precautions at all UK airports last week.
But reports over the weekend suggested that the arrests were linked with two British nationals being arrested in Pakistan in connection with the alleged plane plot rather than there being an imminent terror threat as claimed.
Former British ambassador to Uzbekistan Craig Murray said on Monday that from what he understood none of the alleged terrorists had made a bomb nor had bought a plane ticket and that many did not even have UK passports to be able to board and bomb planes.
Source: Muslim News
Publication time: 18 August 2006, 12:56
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