Police given extension to quiz terror suspects

Detectives have been granted more time to question four people arrested this month over a suspected terror plot in the UK.

Officers from Scotland Yard's counter terrorism command now have until July 19 to question the suspects, which include British Muslim convert Richard Dart.

The three others being held are a 21-year-old man who was detained in Ealing, west London, a 26-year-old man arrested in Newham and a 22-year-old woman detained in Hackney, both in east London and close to the Olympic site in Stratford.

The warrants for further detention were granted at Westminster Magistrates' Court yesterday, police said.

Dart, 29, who changed his name to Salahuddin al-Britani after converting, described how Dart, originally from Weymouth, Dorset, had been converted by cleric Anjem Choudary.

Seven people have been arrested in connection with the alleged plot but three have been released, including two men detained in Newham, who were released yesterday.

A 30-year-old woman who was arrested in Ealing was released on Saturday.

One of the men arrested served as a PCSO with the Met between May 2007 and September 2009, when he resigned. He was not deployed in a specialist or sensitive role, Scotland Yard said.

The alleged plan involved Islamist extremists with potential targets in the UK, but was not linked to the Olympics, it is understood.

The threat to the UK from international terrorism is currently rated substantial - the third highest of five levels.

PA