PM attacks Pakistan terror threat : 11 Paki nationals arrested

[Laaloo]

PM attacks Pakistan terror threat Brown:' Increasingly we have seen terrorist links with Britain and Pakistan' Gordon Brown has said Pakistan's government "has to do more" to root out "terrorist" elements in its country. The prime minister was speaking after police arrested 12 men, including 11 Pakistani nationals, in anti-terror raids across north west England. Mr Brown said police had to move early to foil "a very big terrorist plot". He said he would speak to Pakistan's president to raise concerns about what he termed "increasing" terror links between Pakistan and the UK. Mr Brown said: "We know that there are links between terrorists in Britain and terrorists in Pakistan. That is an important issue for us to follow through". He added: "One of the lessons we have learned from the past few years is that Pakistan has to do more to root out terrorist elements in its country as well." "That's why I'll be talking to the Pakistan president Mr Zardari. We want the closest co-operation between Britain and Pakistan to deal with countering terrorism." Daniel Sandford BBC home affairs correspondent What happened yesterday was something that put public lives at risk. Partly because an operation had to be brought forward quickly and that, potentially, if it turns out to be a genuine plot then the trial may not go as they would have planned. But more importantly, the way the arrests had to be carried out put students' lives at risk; the normal way of arresting people is dawn raids in their homes, completely contained with houses surrounded by officers. But the pictures showed students being held up in a university library while people are being arrested outside a glass window. You can't think of a more risky situation in which someone could be arrested. If the police had had to open fire, where might the bullets have gone? If the person that they were arresting had been carrying some sort of weapon what kind of threat might that have posed? The fact that his actions, in having a paper so broadly exposed in front of the cameras, led them having to make arrests in that kind of dangerous situation just shows why it is that he's had to go this morning. In pictures: Terror raids The alleged target of the suspected terror plot, which BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner said could possibly have involved an explosive device, has not been identified. But Mr Brown said police had been following the plot "for some time", before Assistant Commissioner Bob Quick accidently revealed a secret document to photographers. The blunder forced police to bring forward their plans to arrest suspects in Manchester, Merseyside and Lancashire. Mr Brown said : "We had to act pre-emptively to ensure the safety of the public." Police moved quickly to dampen down speculation the alleged plot involved bomb attacks on a shopping centre and nightclub in Manchester. Greater Manchester Police Chief Constable, Peter Fahy said: "The locations mentioned in the media are pure speculation. "I have no hesitation in using these locations and there is no particular threat against locations mentioned in the media." Mr Fahy refused to reveal the alleged target of the plot, or what was found inside the properties raided by police on Wednesday. He said: "We are evaluating all the material we are finding, interviewing people and the investigation will take a long time." Although he did not confirm a reported al-Qaeda link to the alleged plot, Mr Fahy also stressed the nationality of those arrested so far was significant. He told reporters: "We know what is the nature of the threat to this country and we know where it comes from. A man was arrested at Liverpool John Moores University "Clearly links with other countries will feature in this investigation. The reporting of the fact 11 of those arrested are Pakistani nationals is a matter of public knowledge." Mr Gardner said police moved fast because they felt there was a "clear and present danger to the public." Although he said there were "unconfirmed reports" that an explosive device was involved, his understanding was that no device had yet been found. "If there was a terror plot, it was at the aspirational rather than operational stage," he said. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7992527.stm I think many of us saw this coming one day

[veeru_rocks]

Manmohan since last 4 and half years have been harping that Pakistan is victim of terror just like us why this epiphany at the time of election.. What is the guarantee you will not go back to your supine talk after coming to power.

[suraj]

Manmohan since last 4 and half years have been harping that Pakistan is victim of terror just like us why this epiphany at the time of election.. What is the guarantee you will not go back to your supine talk after coming to power.

Huh- the news is about British PM not Manmohan:confused:

[veeru_rocks]

I am stuck at manmohan who cares about briths PM.. Even our PM has made similar remakrs lately that Pakistan is epicentre of terrorsim yada yada and hthat remakr doesn;t gell with his earlier india pakistani both are victim theory

[Sachinism]

Brown will carry on bending over like his predecessors for Arab money