Police in Britain say they have arrested three men under anti-terrorism laws after finding two explosive devices at a home near Gatwick airport, south of London.
Police said the men, arrested last night, were European citizens and that they had not been linked to any specific group or target.
"Two explosive devices have been found at an address in Crawley, Sussex, and three men have been arrested and are being questioned," a Sussex police spokeswoman said.
"Police and bomb disposal experts are continuing to search the premises where the devices were found. The men have not been linked to any specific groups or targets," she added. The three were being held under Britain's Terrorism Act 2000.
The country is on a heightened alert for the threat of a terrorist strike as tens of thousands of British troops prepare in the Gulf to launch an attack on Iraq.
Anti-terror police have arrested dozens of people in recent months, but the pace has quickened since the discovery of traces of the lethal poison ricin in a north London flat in January.
Gatwick, the country's second-biggest airport, was the scene of a terror scare in February when police arrested a Venezuelan man carrying a live hand grenade after he arrived on a flight from Colombia.
Police recently launched an unprecedented advertising campaign that urges the public to report any suspicions about possible terror activity.