Five Held Under Terror Laws Ahead of G20 Summit

Police arrested five people under anti-terror legislation in Devon, but they insisted on Monday there was no immediate link to the Group of 20 summit this week in London.

The five were detained and held over the last three days after police raids in Plymouth, while officers uncovered a number of weapons, suspicious devices and extremist materials, said Devon and Cornwall Police.

The Guardian newspaper said on its website that the five were arrested in connection with a suspected plot to use explosives to disrupt the G20 summit on Thursday.

“I think it was more designed to disrupt than injure or kill,” a source told the paper, adding that the quantity and type of material found at the addresses indicates a small-scale stunt.

Local police were coordinating with the Metropolitan Police in London, which takes the lead in terror-related crime fighting.

A Scotland Yard spokesman said: “We would stress that the investigation is at a very early stage and that speculation regarding the capability, intention or motivation of those arrested is unhelpful.

“At the current time we have no information to suggest a change to the threat picture facing either the demonstrations or G20,” he said, referring to protests planned in London for Wednesday and the day of the summit.

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