Britain To Ban Terror Suspects From Boarding Planes

Thousands of terror suspects will be banned from boarding planes to Britain by a no-fly list.

Gordon Brown made the announcement with intelligence showing terror cells “are actively trying to attack Britain”.

It follows the failed bomb attack by former British student Umar Abdulmutallab on a flight to Detroit. The no-fly list will ban serious suspects from UKbound flights. Others will face extensive searches.

Among other measures include full body scans at airports from next week.

via Terror suspects to be banned from boarding planes to Britain – mirror.co.uk.

Terror Suspects Got British Security Guard Licenses

Ten Pakistani students suspected of terror links who obtained security clearances to work as guards showed flaws in Britain’s vetting system, critics say.

Despite promises by government ministers to tighten up a system for checking the backgrounds of foreign nationals applying for sensitive security posts, 10 members of a suspected Islamist terror cell in Manchester had obtained permission by the British Home Office to work as security guards, The Sunday Times of London reported.

The newspaper said the students — who were arrested but never charged in an alleged Easter plot to bomb two Manchester shopping centers and a nightclub — had, in the months before their arrests, obtained licenses from the Security Industry Authority to work as security guards.

Source

Terror Suspects Win Court Case On Secret Evidence – UK

Two men suspected of terrorist-related activities have won a landmark High Court battle against government use of secret evidence to deny them bail.

Two judges ruled that a person cannot be denied bail solely on the basis of secret evidence.

Human rights solicitors have described the judgement as a “historic” victory.

Home Secretary Alan Johnson called the ruling “unhelpful” and will seek to appeal. If he fails, the men branded security risks -could be freed.

Saying he was “surprised and disappointed”, Mr Johnson added: “My sole objective is protecting the public and this judgement will make that job harder.

“We will do everything possible to keep this country safe and are taking steps accordingly in the light of this unhelpful judgment.”

The ruling represents victory for a Pakistani student facing removal from the UK, who had been refused bail on the basis of secret evidence, and an Algerian national – known as U – whose bail was revoked.

via BBC News – Terror suspects win High Court case on secret evidence.

Terror Suspects Arrested Moments Before Take-off – Germany

German police arrested two terrorist suspects on board a Dutch airliner Friday, minutes before it was due to take off from Cologne-Bonn airport for Amsterdam. A police spokesman said a Somali man aged 23 and a 24-year-old German born in Mogadishu were escorted off the KLM Flight 1804 at 6:55 am (0455 GMT).

The two men had been under observation for several months. A search of their apartment had turned up farewell letters in which they declared their readiness to die in a jihad or holy war, the police spokesman said.

In Amsterdam, KLM spokeswoman Ellen van Ginkel confirmed the arrests, but denied that police had stormed the aircraft.

“After the doors had closed and the plane was ready for departure, the German border police re-opened the doors and arrested two men,” Van Ginkel said.

“Then, all passengers were let out of the plane and all luggage was also taken out and checked outside,” Van Ginkel added.

The plane ultimately left 70 minutes behind schedule and landed safely in Amsterdam at 9:17 am.

The arrests came a day after police appealed to the public to help track down two missing Islamists, one of them a German convert, who were suspected of membership in a terrorist group called the Islamic Jihad Union (IJU), often described as a successor to al-Qaeda.

Police said they were pursuing about 20 leads related to Eric Breininger, a 21-year-old German, and Houssain al-Malla, a 23-year-old Lebanese, were last seen in the zone along the Pakistan-Afghan border. Police suspect they might have secretly returned to Germany.

Police said Breininger, who is from Saarland state in the west of the country, had recorded an internet video in which he spoke of carrying out a suicide attack and supported jihad or holy war.