Four terrorist suspects arrested after pre-dawn raids in Manchester today are being held at a central London police station.

Four men, believed to be North African, were arrested after a joint operation involving Greater Manchester Police and Scotland Yard's Anti-Terrorist Branch.

Three of the suspects are aged 30, 32, and 35 and have been taken to a police station in central London under armed escort.

A fourth man was arrested later at a Greater Manchester address.

Police have confirmed the arrests were not related to the murder of Detective Constable Stephen Oake, who was fatally stabbed during an operation three weeks ago trying to arrest three terrorist suspects.

The arrests were carried out under the Terrorism Act 2000 in support of an ongoing terrorism investigation, a police spokesman said.

January 29, 2003 17:00