British police make new arrest in airline bomb plot

Police in London arrested a new suspect on Tuesday in connection to the alleged airline bombing plot foiled last week.

Police provided few details of the arrest, saying only that they apprehended the person in the Thames Valley area, west of London.

Officials have not charged any of the 24 people nowin custody,but will provide some details of the evidence gathered so far to a judge at a custody hearing Wednesday.

Police arrested 24 people last Thursday afterinvestigators uncovered an alleged plot to blow up as many as 10 commercial airliners with liquid explosives smuggled aboard in hand luggage. One person has been released without being charged.

On Tuesday, for the third day in a row, police cordoned off and combed the King's Wood in High Wycombe, 55 kilometres west of London,for evidence. The BBC reported that investigators found several firearms in the woods but it is not clear if they are connected to the alleged plot.

Police alsoconfirmed Tuesday thatthey raided an internet caflast Thursday in central Slough, 40 kilometres west of London. They did not say what their investigation found.

London newspapers have reported that investigators have uncovered bomb-making materials and weapons. Other unconfirmed reports have suggested that one of the suspects may have had ties with an accused conspirator in the Sept. 11 attacks.

The Times reported that authorities are exploring a possible relationship between a suspect in Britain and Said Bahaji, a computer expertconnectedto the al-Qaeda cell in Hamburg, Germany, that included three of the men who piloted the hijacked airliners.

Earthquake relief might have provided networking opportunity

Meanwhile, a British House of Lords member has suggested that some of the 23 suspects might have met in Pakistan last year while providing relieffollowing anearthquake that killed nearly 80,000 people.

"It may be that out of 22, there may be a number of them who have met someone from extremist groups in Pakistan or Kashmir," Nasir Ahmed told the Associated Press.

"Some may have met them without knowing that they were meeting [extremists] because they were helping out in the aftermath of the earthquake."

The New York Times has reported that the Pakistan-based charity Jamaat al-Dawat raised money for the survivors of the earthquake but channelled the organization's money to the alleged airline bomb plotters.

Jamaat al-Dawat has denied the charges.

Restrictions eased at London airports

Travellers at London's airports were allowed to bring one piece of carry-on luggage aboard flights on Tuesday while electronics and liquids and gels were still banned. Passengers waited in long lines as rigorous security checks continued. British Airways cancelled 20 per cent of its flights from London on Tuesday.

A report by the Times newspapers said officials were considering introducing new security measures that would include racial profiling. The suggestion has provoked a heated discussion.

Philip Baum, an aviation security consultant, says that profiling is a necessary reality.

"We must apply profiling to the entire population but we must accept that given the current world we live in, young males are likely to be targeted more than others and I think the Muslim community just has to accept this," he said.

But others, including Inayat Bunglawala of the Muslim Council of Britain, say that officials should base their security checks on intelligence, not appearance.

"Already, many Muslims do believe that they are being unfairly targeted," he said.

British Defence Secretary Des Browne said new security requirements for airports were being explored but he said it would inappropriate for him to discuss precisely what those new measures might be.