Man arrested in Britain in connection with suicide bomb attacks in Iraq

A man was arrested this morning in northern England under the Terrorism Act in connection with suicide bomb attacks on U.S.-led coalition forces in Iraq.

Some 30 officers raided a house in Manchester at around 5 a.m. (0400 GMT) and arrested a 40-year-old man, a spokesman for Greater Manchester Police said to AP. The police said the arrest was not in relation to any threat in the UK but to "an incident overseas" involving suicide bomb attacks in Iraq.

Officers believed the suspect had shared the address with another man who traveled to Iraq to take part in a suicide bomb attack, the spokesman said.

The arrest was not linked to any threat in Britain but to "an incident overseas" involving suicide bomb attacks in Iraq targeting coalition forces, he added.

The man arrested is alleged to be the flatmate of another men who travelled to Iraq as a suicide bomber, reports Telegraph.co.uk. The Times questioned several neighbours of the arrested man. One of them, who is Iranian and asked not to be named, said the guys "could have been Kurdish” and “kept themselves to themselves.” Neighbour Andrew Holmes, 43, said: "What I heard first was 30 coppers or thereabouts making a lot of noise and kicking someone’s front door in next door but one. About half an hour later someone was arrested. This was about 4.30am or 5am. It was a well-planned operation, with a lot of police in the vicinity blocking off streets and so on." Britain has some 8,500 troops stationed in Iraq, mostly around Basra, 550 kilometers (340 miles) southeast of Baghdad. According to Reuters, Britain has detained more than 700 people under anti-terrorism laws since the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States. Of these, around 120 have been charged with terrorism offences and another 135 charged under other legislation.