British police arrest Pakistani on terror charges

British police on Wednesday arrested a Pakistani suspected of being an al Qaeda operative in northeastern England after US authorities issued a warrant for his arrest.

Abid Naseer, 24, is sought by the United States on charges of providing material support to a foreign terrorist organisation, conspiring to provide material support, and conspiracy to use a destructive device.

He was arrested by British counter-terrorism police last year on suspicion of plotting mass casualty attacks in England and of being an operative of al Qaeda, although he was never charged.

The British government subsequently tried to deport him but while an immigration court acknowledged he was “an al Qaeda operative who posed and still poses a serious threat”, it ruled his safety could not be guaranteed in Pakistan.