This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen
on .
It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
Terror threat level reduced as police question tube bombing suspects
(35 minutes later)
Police are searching a residential property in Stanwell, Surrey, in connection with a second man arrested in connection with the terrorist attack that injured 30 people on a London Underground train on Friday.
The UK terror threat level has been reduced to severe from critical following what Amber Rudd, the home secretary described as “good progress” in the investigation into the bomb attack on a London underground train that injured 30 people.
The 21-year-old man was arrested in Hounslow, west London, at about 11.50pm on Saturday in connection with the explosion at Parsons Green station, the Metropolitan police said.
Military personnel who were mobilised when the the threat level was raised on Friday evening will return to normal duties, Rudd said. The decision was made by the independent joint terrorism analysis centre (JTAC) based at MI5 and means an attack is considered highly likely but is no longer “expected imminently”.
“We are supporting the Metropolitan police with ongoing inquiries,” a Surrey police spokesman said. “There is increased police activity in the area but no local evacuation will take place.”
Announcing the decision Rudd urged the public to “continue to be vigilant but not be alarmed”.
The man was detained under section 41 of the Terrorism Act and taken to a police station in south London where he remained in custody on Sunday, Scotland Yard said.
“What it indicates is that good progress has been made,” she said. “[JTAC] has clearly decided that sufficient progress has been made to have the confidence but it is still an ongoing operation.”
An 18-year-old man arrested in the departure area of Dover port earlier on Saturday in connection with the attack also remains in custody. Armed police launched a raid on a property in Sunbury-on-Thames, Surrey, on Saturday in relation to the bombing. As many as 60 homes in the area were temporarily evacuated as a precaution, police said. The address is believed by investigators to be connected to the making of the explosives that partially detonated on the tube train at Parsons Green.
She said there was no evidence that other explosive devices were in circulation, as had reportedly been claimed by representatives of Islamic State.
Residents said the property being searched by police was occupied by a couple who were known for fostering many children and young people over several decades and in 2010 were made MBEs.
“They have always made claims that suit their own interests but actually there is no evidence of that,” Rudd said.
The couple, Ronald Jones, 88, and his wife Penelope, 71, who were honoured for services to children and families, are said to be staying with friends following the police raids.
The Met assistant commissioner Mark Rowley, the national lead for counter-terrorism policing, said searches were continuing at addresses in Hounslow and Surrey but he said detectives “are getting a greater understanding of the preparation of the device”.
One friend, Alison Griffiths, told the Press Association the couple had been foster parents for almost 40 years and had taken in up to 300 children, including eight refugees, and had an 18-year-old and a 22-year-old staying with them recently.
“There is still much more to do but this greater clarity and this progress has led JTAC to come to the judgment that an attack is no longer imminent.”
Police scaled back the cordon around the property on Sunday and told residents there were no safety risks caused by the ongoing investigations. An inner cordon of 10 houses remains in place.
After the improvised device exploded at 8.20am on Friday, 30 people received medical treatment, many for flash burns.
Counter-terrorism officers are leading the investigation supported by MI5. A key strand of the investigation has focused on CCTV to establish where, when and by whom the device, which is understood to have been fitted with a timer, was placed on the train.
Counter-terrorism officers are leading the investigation supported by MI5. A key strand of the investigation has focused on CCTV to establish where, when and by whom the device, which is understood to have been fitted with a timer, was placed on the train.
Amber Rudd, the home secretary, said it appeared the bomber was not a lone wolf but that it was “too early to reach any final conclusions on that”.
Asked if she could give any information on claims by Islamic State that there were other unexploded devices, she told The Andrew Marr Show on BBC1: “It is inevitable that so-called Islamic State, or Daesh, will reach in and try to claim responsibility. We have no evidence to suggest that yet.”
While the arrest on Saturday of the 18-year-old youth was instantly hailed by police as “significant”,they are less sure about the importance to the attack, if any, of the person arrested in Hounslow, west London. Investigators remain open-minded about whether one or more people was involved and have not yet found definitive evidence of a wider conspiracy.
The teenage suspect arrested at Dover it is believed by officials to have planted the device on the tube carriage, which was detonated by a timer, and would have caused much more extensive casualties had it fully exploded. Investigators do not believe the person who placed the home-made bomb on the train was present when it exploded. Thus the attack was tactically different in that it was not suicide bombing.
Rudd said £24m of new government money was going towards counter-terrorism operations across the country.
Asked if police cuts had hit anti-terror operations, she said: “I think it is too simple to approach it like that. What we have is an onslaught of attacks from Daesh trying to radicalise people.”
The terror threat remains at critical – the highest level. The Met’s senior national counter-terrorism coordinator, Neil Basu, said on Saturday police were “keeping an open mind around whether more than one person is responsible for the attack”.
He said 121 witnesses had been identified, of which 100 had been spoken to by officers by Saturday afternoon. Officers were continuing to trawl through many hours of CCTV footage and more than 180 videos and photographs sent to them by the public following an appeal, police said.
