Paper Says Suicide Attack
Foiled
Ten Held in Plot to Kill Fans at One of Britain\'s Biggest Soccer Venues
Reuters
Forensic
officers enter a property where raids were carried out in Manchester.
LONDON (April 19) - British police
foiled a series of suicide bomb attacks at a Manchester United soccer match with the arrest of 10 people in
anti-terror raids on Monday, the Sun newspaper reported on Tuesday.
The paper quoted an unnamed police source as
saying the suspects had bought tickets for seats around the club\'s 67,000-capacity stadium for their premier
league match against Liverpool on Saturday.
\"The plot involved several individual bombers in separate parts of
the stadium,\" the source told the paper. \"If successful, any such attack would have caused absolute
carnage.\"
Ten people were held under anti-terror laws in a series of dawn raids involving 400 police across
northern England on Monday.
Police and the Home Office (Interior Ministry) declined to comment on the Sun\'s
report.
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\"We cannot get into a running commentary on the
intelligence and information behind police and security service operations,\" a Home Office spokeswoman
said.
Assistant Chief Constable Dave Whatton, of Greater Manchester Police, said he was aware of \"extensive
speculation about possible targets.\"
\"As with any counter-terrorist operation, we will not confirm or deny
any targets,\" he said in a statement.
The Sun said the arrests were made after months of eavesdropping on
mobile telephone calls and surveillance by British and American authorities.
Anyone planning an attack at
Manchester United\'s Old Trafford stadium would have risked being frisked by security guards or police on their
way into the ground.
· Soccer Club Plays Down Report
An attack
during the match -- one of the biggest games in the English soccer calendar -- would have been broadcast live around
the world. The clubs are third and fourth in English soccer\'s top league.
Britain is on high alert for attacks
after the Madrid train bombings which killed 191 people on March 11.
London police chief Sir John Stevens has
repeatedly said an attack, most likely a suicide bombing, is inevitable. Police arrested eight men and seized half a
ton of fertilizer often used in bomb-making in raids across southern England on March 30.
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