BRITAIN: The spotlight was turning on Britain's security and intelligences services last night as detectives continued questioning 17 terrorist suspects in Leicester.
In America, meanwhile, agents warned that al-Qaeda may be about to unleash a new wave of "non-Arab" terrorists, from south-east Asia or Africa, in a bid to outwit western intelligence agencies. Washington officials were reportedly fearful that Indonesian, Filipino, Malaysian and African operatives could be deployed to get round American security profiling systems focused on Arabs.
Fourteen men and two women arrested in Leicester over Thursday and yesterday were joined by a 27-year-old man following his arrest at an undisclosed address in north-west London. Three of those arrested were reported to be in the custody of the Immigration Service while at least nine were being interrogated about possible connections with the al-Qaeda terror network and alleged plans for terrorist attacks in Europe.
Leicestershire police stressed there was no evidence of any terrorist threat to the people of Leicester following Thursday's initial arrests, which coincided with the appearance before Leicester Magistrates of two Algerians - arrested shortly after September 11th last year - charged with membership of the al-Qaeda organisation, one of them with directing it.
However, the scale of the continuing arrests in Britain's biggest round-up of terror suspects since the attacks on Washington and New York - coupled with reports that as many as 20 British nationals may have been arrested by allied forces in Afghanistan, and the court appearance yesterday of shoe-bomb suspect, Mr Richard Reid, in Boston - revived fears about the possible scale of penetration of the UK by international terrorists and their sympathisers.
Doubt and confusion was evident yesterday amid separate reports that anti-terrorist detectives believe there may be between 100 and 200 active supporters of al-Qaeda or allied groups in Britain.
And with just eight foreign nationals presently detained without trial, Labour MP Mr Andrew Dismore yesterday suggested a number of potential suspects may have escaped the net before the introduction of Home Secretary Mr David Blunkett's new powers. An expert in the field, he said: "I always thought there were potentially about 20 suspects in the frame. A couple have been charged under anti-terrorism legislation, eight were picked up and detained in December, and there were others who seem to have vanished."
As fears grew about the scale of bin Laden's "British wing", the Washington Post quoted a senior official warning: "The next face of this is not going to be an Arab face but possibly Indonesian, Filipino, a Malaysian face, or even African. They (al-Qaeda) understand the security profile we are operating on. They are trying to attack. We have evidence of that."
Mr Richard Reid, a British citizen, yesterday pleaded not guilty to all nine charges he faces after allegedly attempting to blow-up a transatlantic airliner when he appeared before Boston Federal Court. He was remanded in custody. During the course of the 10-minute hearing, US Magistrate Judge Judith Dein read Mr Reid the nine counts filed against him and asked how he pleaded. Mr Reid responded, in hushed tones: "Not guilty."
The US Attorney General, Mr John Ashcroft, on Wednesday announced that the 28-year-old convert to Islam would be charged with attempted murder of US nationals overseas and of people on an aircraft. At Guantanamo, Cuba, Red Cross monitors hoped to interview each Taliban and al-Qaeda prisoner sent from Afghanistan to the US naval base there to ensure they are being treated humanely, an agency official said yesterday.
Mr Hamid Karzai, the interim Prime Minister, yesterday headed for Saudi Arabia on his first trip abroad as part of a whirlwind tour to win urgently needed financial support for his war-shattered country. He is to meet President Bush in Washington on January 28th. - Additional reporting AFP