Birmingham, England – Police foiled a major kidnapping plot, the first of its kind in Britain, with the arrests Wednesday of nine terror suspects who reportedly planned to torture and behead a British Muslim soldier and broadcast the killing on the Internet.
The alleged plot was in its final stages and uncovered during a six-month surveillance operation by anti-terror officers in this city of more than 1 million in the heart of England. The arrests came in a predawn raid on homes and businesses in several Birmingham neighborhoods, which were mostly Pakistani.
“The threat from terrorism remains very real,” said Assistant Chief Constable David Shaw, who would not confirm reports from the British Broadcasting Corp. and other media outlets that the intended victim was an army soldier to be killed in an “Iraqi-style” execution and broadcast on the Internet.
The Birmingham kidnapping plot raised fears that a new type of terrorism has reached Britain, one which uses individual victims to send a message through kidnappings and publicized beheadings.
