Terror suspect may have been planning attack in Britain

An Islamist terrorist suspect arrested near Paris this week may have been planning an attack in Britain, according to French investigators.

The arrest of Slimane Khalfaoui north of Paris on Monday was followed by a round-up of six people in the French capital yesterday. The six, who included a Pakistani mullah, are suspected of having helped Richard Reid, the British alleged "shoe-bomber" charged in the US with attempting to blow up a Paris-Miami flight last Christmas.

It was not immediately clear if there were connections between the arrests and other captures of alleged al-Qa'ida activists in the Paris area in recent days, including Mr Khalfaoui and another so-called "big fish", Redouane Daoud, who escaped from prison in the Netherlands in June. French investigators said the arrests – although fitting into the same broad picture of alleged Islamist terror activity in Europe – came from separate investigations.

The French interior minister, Nicolas Sarkozy, was jubilant about the arrests. He described them as a "très belle affaire" (very fine thing) and paid tribute to the "quality of the French security services".

The arrest of Mr Khalfaoui, 27, a Franco-Algerian, in a raid by 100 police officers on his sister's home in Seine-Saint Denis on Monday is regarded as especially significant by French investigators.

Mr Khalfaoui is said to be a close ally of an Algerian arrested in London and accused of planning terrorist acts, possibly including an attack on the London Underground.

Internal EU documents and a French intelligence report leaked earlier this month have identified Britain as the most likely target for an al-Qa'ida attack in Europe. French investigators believe Mr Khalfaoui may have been a link-man, or a possible future "operative" in such an attack.

The raids in Paris yesterday, mostly on the Pakistani community, appeared to be part of an investigation into the five days spent in Paris by Mr Reid before he boarded a flight for Miami on 22 December.

¿ Malaysia announced the arrest of three men yesterday, suspected of plotting to carry out suicide truck bomb attacks on the British, American and Australian embassies in Singapore, and a fourth alleged associate. The plot was thwarted last December and January but the organisation survived, and is accused of carrying out the October bombings in Bali, killing nearly 200 people.