Anti-terror police in for the long haul

The Terrorism Act 2006 gives the police up to 28 days to question suspects before charging them. Pictures / Reuters

LONDON - The terror suspects arrested in the alleged plot to blow up transatlantic airliners will be held and interrogated for up to four weeks before facing possible charges, police and legal sources have confirmed.

Anti-terror detectives are preparing for the "long haul" after arresting 24 people in raids late last week in London, Buckinghamshire and Birmingham.

One of those arrested has been released, but police have successfully applied for permission to detain 22 remaining suspects until Wednesday.

The case to continue holding the 23rd suspect will be heard tomorrow.

Intelligence officers, forensic experts and detectives are scouring dozens of computer hard drives, papers and alleged bomb-making materials seized in raids on homes, offices and internet cafes in the past three days.

The suspects' homes in northeast London - where 15 men were arrested - and in the commuter town of High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, were being subjected to intensive finger-tip scrutiny by forensics officers, including specialist chemical checks.

Streets in both areas remained cordoned off as police also combed Kings Wood in High Wycombe, close to two homes being searched in Micklefield Rd, armed with pickaxes, spades and garden forks in the hunt for bomb-making equipment.

Computer hard drives have been seized in three internet cafes in Berkshire - one in Reading and two in nearby Slough, it emerged yesterday.

Police had already impounded hard drives from an internet cafe in northeast London.

Saleem Cheema, manager of the cyber cafe in Reading, said six officers from the Metropolitan Police's Flying Squad appeared with a warrant to search the premises under the Terrorism Act.

"They have taken six hard drives and my main server," Cheema said.

Up to 17 suspects were detained in Karachi, Lahore and the district of Bahawalpur in Pakistan. Six of the 24 suspects came from High Wycombe.

The man released without charge was named by Muslim leaders as Amjab Sarwar, 26, detained when his High Wycombe home was raided.

His brother, Assad Sarwar, was still being held.

One community leader, who asked not to be named, said: "I saw him and chatted to him myself after he was released.

"Amjab is a quiet man who you have to ask many questions of to get him to speak at all. He is a fine man."

The Sarwar family home - still being searched by forensics experts - had notices in the windows saying: "No press please."

The remaining suspects in custody are likely to be held for four weeks - the longest period allowed under extended new anti-terrorism powers - before being charged, legal sources said.

The Terrorism Act 2006 now gives the police up to 28 days to question suspects before charging them - and it is thought this case will be the first time such powers will be used.

It is understood that none of the suspects has yet been questioned about the plot or their alleged role in it, despite the extensive and detailed allegations in the media.

A Met source said: "We are very much in for the long haul. A lot of information has come in the first few hours.

"We are now gathering further evidence. This is a meticulous operation and we are waiting to carry out full interviews."

Many of the suspects are being held at the high-security Paddington Green police station in central London, where the holding cells and facilities are said to be overstretched by the number of men being held, and several other police stations.

It is expected that the suspects may then be transferred to Belmarsh high-security prison on the outskirts of southeast London after their first 14 days in custody, while police continue their investigations.

- INDEPENDENT