British arrest 5 in G20 terror raids

FIVE people suspected of planning to join protests against the G20 summit in London on Thursday have been arrested after weapons were found during a raid on a house in southwest Britain, police said yesterday.

The five, three men aged 16, 19 and 25 and two women aged 20, were arrested in the city of Plymouth between Friday and Sunday and are being held under counter-terrorism powers. Police said their inquiries indicated there was “no religious agenda” to the investigation.

Four of the suspects are British and one is thought to be an international student. Thousands of officers are taking part in a huge security operation this week when world leaders arrive for the G20 summit on the financial crisis to be held on April 2.

Anarchists have threatened to bring chaos to the streets of the British capital.

A police source said the five suspects were believed to be planning to take part in the protests.

“These arrests would appear to be isolated at this time,” said assistant chief constable Sharon Taylor of Devon and Cornwall police. “Those arrested people will remain in custody while further inquiries take place.”

The investigation was launched after officers arrested a 25-year-old man in Plymouth last Friday for spray-painting graffiti on a wall. A search of his home led to the arrest of three others for drugs offences.

Detectives later found a number of imitation firearms, improvised explosives made of fireworks and material “relating to political ideology”. The fifth man was arrested on Sunday and all five were then detained under the Terrorism Act.

The devices have been sent for further forensic examination and police have not ruled out further searches as the net widens.

Police said the investigation is not linked to any particular religious group and centres around “political activity involving British nationals”.

Scotland Yard has issued warnings that protesters are planning to bring London to a standstill with high-profile protests this week.

The G20 summit, to be held at the Excel arena in London’s Docklands, has been described by senior officers as the capital’s most challenging police operation for a decade.

Several thousand officers will be on duty when the leaders of the world’s 20 richest countries, including US President Barack Obama, descend on the capital.

A Metropolitan Police 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.

“The Metropolitan Police has said that we are seeing an unprecedented level of activity among protest groups not seen since the late 1990s, involving some individuals we have not seen on the protest circuit for some time,” said the police spokesman.

“However, while these individuals are talking about what they would like to happen, we are unsure of how much of this is achievable or simply aspiration.”

Commenting on the potential scale of damage that could be caused by the weapons and devices discovered, Assistant Chief Constable Paul Netherton said: “These are imitation firearms, the other devices were made of simple fireworks — they’re probably not lethal.

“But I can’t comment. Fireworks do have an explosive component to them, but of a minor nature.”

Thousands of activists from across Europe have been travelling to London in a bid to disrupt the G20 meeting.