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.


More on This Story


· 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.