Terror suspects held during raids in UK

In England, a series of raids have led to the arrests of 12 suspected terrorists. But it has turned out to be a major embarrassment for the British authorities as the raids had to be conducted suddenly after a top counter terrorism cop inadvertently leaked details of the operation. He has resigned over the gaff.

Documents with details of a top-secret anti-terrorism operation that got inadvertently leaked forced the police to quickly conduct raids planned over months in broad daylight on Wednesday.

Twelve men, ten of them said to be of Pakistani origin staying on student visas were arrested in raids conducted in Northwest England.

"I want to congratulate Greater Manchester, Merseyside and Lancashire police forces for carrying out a successful anti-terrorist operation in which twelve arrests were made in locations across the north west of England," said Jacqui Smith, Home Secretary.

However, it is not clear if some suspects managed to get away. The counter terrorism chief has resigned after that security blunder.

The names of senior officers, locations and other details were on the briefing paper. The raids were carried out in Manchester, Liverpool and nearby areas, including Liverpool's John Moores University.

The suspects are said to have links with the Al-Qaida and were planning major attacks against Britain.