BIRMINGHAM, England (AP):
British counterterrorism police arrested nine men in an alleged kidnapping plot yesterday, a plan that involved torturing and beheading a British Muslim soldier and broadcasting the act on the Internet, according to news reports.
The kidnapping plot was the first of its kind to be uncovered in Britain, according to counterterrorism officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the case.
Police would not confirm the potential victim's occupation or details of the plot that was unravelled in the predominantly Pakistani neighbourhood in central England. A dozen houses and two Islamic bookshops were cordoned off and searched.
Since suicide bombers killed 52 people in London on July 7, 2005 - killings carried out by Muslim extremists who grew up in Britain - counterterrorism units have conducted several raids across Britain.
Sweeps conducted
Several sweeps have been conducted in Birmingham, including one raid in August, where suspects were arrested in an alleged plot to use liquid explosives to blow up at least 10 planes between the United States and Britain.
The potential victim, a British Muslim soldier, was under police protection, Sky News reported, saying the kidnapping was going to end in an "Iraq-style" execution. The British Broadcasting Corp. also reported that the plan was to kidnap a soldier.
"The threat of terrorism has been growing over the years," said David Shaw, a police spokesman in Birmingham. The operation took months.
Birmingham is the hometown of Britain's first Muslim soldier to be killed in Afghanistan last year, a death prompting militant Islamist websites to denounce Cpl. Jabron Hashmi, 24, as a traitor. One site - that of extremist British sect al-Ghurabaa - posted an image of the soldier surrounded by flames.
Last year, a London street vendor was sentenced to six years in prison in a plot to kill a decorated British soldier. Abu Baker Mansha was accused of targeting Cpl. Mark Byles, whose address and other materials, were found in Mansha's apartment.
