New suspect held in UK plane bomb plot

LONDON - Police in the UK have detained one more person in connection with last week's alleged plot to blow up trans-atlantic airliners, as France's interior minister said the threat of terrorism remained "high and permanent".

The arrest took the number of people held in Britain to 24 after police said on last week they had foiled a plan to carry out multiple suicide bombings on aircraft bound for the United States using liquid explosives disguised as drinks.

The alleged plot by suspected Islamist militants, if followed through, could have surpassed the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States in fatalities.

French Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy told France 2 television that information France had received from Britain showed the authorities had faced a "serious" and "imminent" threat.

"The (terror) threat is high and permanent. There is absolutely no question of lowering our guard," said Sarkozy, who is due to meet his British counterpart in London on Wednesday to discuss on-going anti-terror operations.

Police - who are conducting searches in at least three parts of the country - said they had arrested another suspect in the Thames Valley area, where officers raided several houses last week.

The 23 people already being held are all British-born Muslims, mainly of Pakistani descent. No details were immediately available on the latest arrest.

Police on Wednesday must get a judge's approval to continue to hold those detained last week. Suspects can be held for up to 28 days without charge under new powers introduced last month.

Islamic charities probed

The Pakistan government said on Friday it had arrested seven people, including two British Muslims of Pakistani descent. One of the Britons, Rashid Rauf, has links to al Qaeda, it said.

A Pakistani intelligence official also said this week authorities were probing two Islamic charities, al Rasheed Trust and al Asar Trust, over a possible financing role.

Authorities were investigating whether money donated in Britain to provide relief to victims of last year's earthquake in Pakistani-held Kashmir had been diverted to fund the alleged plot to blow up the planes, he said.

British police yesterday combed woodland around the town of High Wycombe, in the Thames Valley, for evidence of the alleged plot.

One of the houses raided in High Wycombe, according to British media, may have been used by the alleged plotters to mix the chemicals to blow up as many as 10 U.S.-bound aircraft.

The suspected plot came 13 months after British Muslim suicide bombers killed 52 people on London's transport system.

It caused chaos at Britain's major airports as all airline cabin baggage was banned. Britain eased that ban on Monday as it scaled down the threat level to "severe" from "critical".

But passengers continued to suffer major delays on Tuesday and airlines were still forced to cancel some of their flights.

British Airways, which has been forced to cancel 1,100 flights since security checks were stepped up, said it might seek compensation from airport operator BAA Plc.

- REUTERS