More arrests in UK terror raids

Sky News reports that those arrested are Iraqi Kurds and North African in origin. Seven were arrested in Greater Manchester, while three were arrested in Staffordshire, the West Midlands, and South Yorkshire, reports Sky.

"Ten people have been arrested on suspicion of being concerned in the commission, preparation, or instigation of acts of terrorism," a Greater Manchester police spokesman said. A police spokeswoman had refused to confirm speculation that the raids were linked to suspected Islamist terrorist groups, reports the Guardian.

The raids took place " amid reports of a planned attack against the huge shopping center in Manchester," according to The Independent.

Sky also cites unnamed sources as saying the arrests are linked to a suspected terror plot, possibly targeting Britain's biggest indoor shopping center - the Trafford Centre. The center has 200 shops, a selection of restaurants and a bowling alley.

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The raids come a day after radical Muslim cleric Sheikh Omar Bakri Mohammed, the head of the London-based group Al Muhajiroun, said in remarks published in the Portuguese daily Publico that various groups sympathetic to Al Qaeda are preparing large-scale attacks on London. "There are many youths who dream of joining Al Qaeda, but worse than that, there are many 'freelancers' who are willing to launch operations similar to those by Al Qaeda," he is quoted as saying. "The attack in Madrid was carried out by one of those groups."

"Here in London there is a very well-organized group, which calls itself Al Qaeda-Europe," he added. "I know they are on the verge of launching a big operation." London police said they are not ready to discuss the plans, but England's most senior police officer, Sir John Stevens, has previously stated that an attack on London is inevitable.

He also equated terrorist acts done by Islamist organizations to the British government's decision to send troops to Iraq. "The British also are terrorists, in Iraq...Terrorism is the law of the 21st century. It's legitimate." The cleric's group, Al Muhajiroun, has praised the attacks on New York and the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001, reports Reuters.

Moderate Muslim groups in Britain, however, have sought recently to distance themselves from Mohammed. After Britain's biggest antiterror operation since 9/11 last month resulted in the arrest of eight suspects of Pakistani origin, moderate British Muslim organizations launched a drive against hardliners in their midst. The Muslim Council of Britain and the Muslim Parliament of Britain both specifically mentioned Omar Bakri Mohammed and his Al Muhajiroun group when they condemned comments by radical Muslims.

In a commentary piece in the Guardian, columnist Mark Lawson suggests that the latest "bin Laden" tape calling for a truce with European countries – if their soldiers leave Iraq – might leave European leaders longing for the more ideological, uncompromising Al Qaeda. Mr. Lawson goes on to say that "future historians of terrorism are likely to see Al Qaeda as geniuses of psychological warfare." Therefore, given Al Qaeda's success at creating fear in the minds of the public, this latest offer may seem tempting to many Europeans, he suggests.

Psychological warfare is the hardest to fight. You can use soldiers to patrol airports but you can't send troops to police the population's inner resolve. "Bin Laden" is whispering in the ears of European people, hoping to turn them against their leaders - first in their minds and then at the ballot box.

Faced with the possibility of opinion-sensitive Arab terrorism - and an Al Qaeda apparently open to negotiation and focus groups - western leaders may experience a second kind of terrorist nostalgia: fondly recalling the days when bin Laden apparently didn't care who he killed and where.

Also...
• The terror of Bush's war on America ( The Guardian)
• Bush plans aid to build foreign peace forces ( The Washington Post)
• Four moments when 9/11 might have been stopped ( The Christian Science Monitor)
• Airing of Powell's misgivings tests ties in the Cabinet ( The New York Times)
• A replay of Israeli tactics in Iraq ( Arab News)

• Feedback appreciated. E-mail Matthew Clark.