Nine men were being held tonight in England over an alleged terrorist plot to carry out an Iraqi-style kidnapping of a British Muslim soldier.

The raids in the Sparkhill area of Birmingham saw officers swoop on an anonymous end-of-terrace house, an Islamic bookshop and a cybercafe.

Eight people were arrested today in a major anti-terror operation.

JAMES MARTIN CAHILL spent his 28th birthday carrying out the murder of Limerick bouncer Brian Fitzgerald.