UK police raid internet cafes, investigating alleged terror plot

Snip from CNN:

British police confirmed Saturday that they had raided a series of Internet cafes in their investigation into an alleged plot to blow up as many as 10 trans-Atlantic aircraft.

There was no confirmation of any arrests in the raids in London, Birmingham and the Thames Valley region, west of the capital. The raids came as links to suspected terror operatives in Pakistan — possibly connected to al Qaeda — were emerging Saturday as key elements of the investigation.

Suspects in the UK received a coded message from Pakistan to "attack now" as authorities there closed in on them, security sources have told CNN.

Link to CNN story. The local paper in the town where one of these cafes is located reports:

Officers swooped on Asian Spice in Wokingham Road, taking away hard drives and the café's main server at around 3.30pm. The raid lasted around two to three hours.

Saleem Cheema, aged 52, manager of Asian Spice, which also serves food, said: "We were out the back when they [the police] just came barging in.

"They showed their badges. Three of them were in uniform, the other three were in suits. They said, 'We are from the Flying Squad and we are here under the Terrorism Act, we have got a warrant to search the place', which they did.

"They have taken six hard drives and my main server. I was scared. I'm laughing now but at the time you get panicky. Somebody must have done something here on the net."

Link

Speaking of CNN, a reader email there indicates that if you're gellin', you're no longer flyin'.

I was not allowed to board a plane from Fresno to [San Francisco] yesterday (August 10) because my shoe insole was supposedly made of "gel".

Ragui Michael
San Francisco