5th suspect seized in UK terror plot

LONDON — Police in London on Thursday said they had arrested a fifth British man on suspicion of Islamist-linked “terrorism” after saying earlier they had managed to avert a “significant plot.”

The 20-year-old was arrested “on suspicion of being concerned in the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism,” the Metropolitan Police said in a statement.

The police said he was arrested on Tuesday along with the other four, but this was not revealed “for operational reasons.”

“A number of residential addresses and vehicles were searched by specialist officers in West and Central London as part of the investigation. These searches are now complete,” it said.

The five are being held in central London police stations and the police have a warrant to hold them until October 14.

Of the other four, two are aged 20 and two aged 21. One of the 21-year-olds was tasered during his arrest, the police said.

British media named the man who was tasered as 21-year-old medical student Tarik Hassan, and said he was arrested on a housing estate in the Ladbroke Grove area of west London.

Hassan, known as “the surgeon” among his friends, is reported to have traveled to Syria and met with terrorist elements there.

The UK government estimates some 500 British men have joined the Islamic State group in Syria and Iraq.

Officials said 103 people have been arrested this year after returning from Syria and five of those convicted.

“These arrests and searches are part of an ongoing investigation into Islamist-related terrorism,” the police said in a statement on Tuesday.

A Whitehall source said officers believe the raids were an “early disruption” of what could have been a “significant plot”.

Metropolitan Police Commissioner Bernard Hogan-Howe described the operation as “quite serious”.

A British Muslim human rights group meanwhile condemned the police tactics used in Hassan’s arrest and “alarmist media reporting” on the case.

CAGE said the raid had been “violent” and “excessive force” was used. “A door was broken down, stun grenades were thrown, and a taser used,” the group said in a statement.

The Times of London reported that Hassan had landed back in the UK 48 hours before he was arrested in the Tuesday raid. He had allegedly traveled from Sudan, where he was studying.

British medical student arrested by terror police went from jack the lad to devout stranger http://t.co/0rxjemSrpy pic.twitter.com/W1dV2wZ01c

— indy100 (@indy100) October 9, 2014

Brit Tarik Hassane sent tweet laughing at beheaded Kurdish woman soldier http://t.co/I9FpDpOyf9

— News This Second (@NewsThisSecond) October 9, 2014

On the day he was arrested, Hassan reportedly tweeted “I smell war.” His friends told the Times the tweet referred to a dispute with a group of girls and was not an indication of a plot to attack the UK.

Neighbors described a young man who grew increasingly devout over the past few months. While in Sudan, Hassan “was known to associate with some Salafist or fundamentalist students,” The Telegraph reported.

According to the Daily Mail, Hassan also used social media to call on followers to pray for jihadi fighters in Syria and to allegedly ridicule a female Kurdish fighter beheaded by an Islamic State jihadist.

Police commissioner Hogan-Howe told BBC radio the arrests involve a “quite serious case.” He said police are taking a more aggressive stance because of the increased threat linked to the fighting in Iraq and Syria.