British links to al-Qa'ida grow as eight are arrested

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A suspected terrorist cell of eight al-Qa'ida fund-raisers and recruiters was arrested in Leicester as part of a police investigation into the network of British support for Osama bin Laden.

At the same time, two Algerians accused of belonging to the same terror group appeared before Leicester magistrates on charges of membership of al-Qa'ida and inciting terrorism overseas.

The Leicester organisation is also believed to have shielded and supported one of the men accused of plotting an attack on the US embassy in Paris in the early part of this year.

The alleged al-Qa'ida cell is accused of having links with groups in France, the Netherlands, Spain and Belgium.

The eight men, aged between 23 and 40 and believed to be mainly of Middle Eastern origin, are accused of using credit card fraud to raise funds.

They were arrested on suspicion of offences relating to the Terrorism Act 2000 as part of a Europe-wide inquiry, said police. Three other men were arrested in Leicester in connection with immigration offences.

The eight men were detained during raids by police, some wearing protective body armour, in the Highfields and Northfields areas of Leicester early yesterday morning. Eight properties in Leicester and a house in north-west London were searched for evidence.

One witness said: "I was woken up by loud shouts of 'Police – open up!' and the door being broken down. When I went out to see what was going on, there were two police vans outside a flat and lots of police milling around."

Muslim leaders in Leicester said the eight men were outsiders who had come from the Middle East in the past year and used Britain as a base to promote terrorist activities.

Meanwhile, Baghdad Meziane, 36, and Brahim Benmerzouga, 30, who were arrested in Leicester on 26 September, appeared in court yesterday.

The two men, who are both unemployed, were accused of belonging to al-Qa'ida and conspiring to raise money to fund terrorism. Mr Benmerzouga is further charged with possessing 19 videos containing images intended to stir up racial hatred.

It is also alleged he possessed a solar-powered battery pack that could be used to make satellite telephone calls or to power explosive devices.

Mr Meziane is alleged to have incited another person to commit an act of terrorism wholly or partly outside the UK. He is also charged with directing the activities of al-Qa'ida.

The defendants were remanded in custody to appear at Leicester Crown Court next Thursday.

Friends of Mr Meziane later said that his wife, who is heavily pregnant with his second child, was "very ill".

The two men were arrested as a result of a joint operation between Leicestershire Constabulary and the Metropolitan Police's anti-terrorist branch who detained a third man, Kamel Daoudi, at the time.

Mr Daoudi fled to Leicester after escaping a police raid in Paris. He was later deported to France, wanted in connection with a foiled plot by an Egyptian terror group to "suicide bomb" the American embassy, probably using a lorry.

An alleged terrorist, Djamel Beghal, who was once Mr Daoudi's flatmate, told a French judge al-Qa'ida fighters were recruited from British mosques in London and Leicester.