Home Office challenged over terror raid reports

Wednesday, 7 February 2007 12:00 AM

The government came under fire last night from the Conservatives and the human rights group Liberty over the way the media is briefed on counter-terrorism operations.

Last week's dawn raids in Birmingham, which resulted in the arrests of nine people, prompted widespread speculation in the press about the possible cause, all claiming to be based on "senior sources" in the police and intelligence services.

This morning two of those arrested were released without charge, and their lawyer, Gareth Peirce, said they had left the police station "without any better understanding of why they were there than when they first arrived seven days ago".

West Midlands police have been granted another 72 hours to question the remaining seven suspects, but no charges have yet been brought.

In a letter to the top civil servant at the Home Office, David Normington, shadow home secretary David Davis questioned the media briefings on the counter-terrorism raids, in particular with respect to "matters of an operation, sensitive or confidential nature".

He also wrote to Ken Jones, president of the Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo) noting the "increasing concern relating to the media handling" of last week's arrests.

The letter was made public after Liberty announced it was also writing to the home secretary, John Reid, questioning his department's role in off the record briefings.

"We are gravely concerned by reports that the Home Office may have secretly and speculatively briefed journalists as security operations were underway," said the group's director, Shami Chakrabarti.

"Any such practices risk undermining the work of police and prosecutors and jeopardise both the trust and safety of the public.

"If the same people have offered secret anti-terror briefings whilst proposing the extension of pre-charge detention, this would be party politics at its most dangerous."

In a statement released this morning, West Midlands police confirmed that two men arrested in Birmingham under the Terrorism Act 2000 have been released without charge and seven other men remain in custody.

"The Crown Prosecution Service has been involved in the examination of the evidence throughout this investigation. It is important that the evidential test is applied equally to determine who should face charges and who should not," it said.

"In all such operations people may be released without charge at this stage, while others may remain in custody for further investigation. This is normal and to be expected in large, complex criminal enquiries where a number of arrests have taken place.

"We still have a large amount of evidence seized during the searches to examine and our enquiries continue with those that remain in custody."

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