ANTI-terror police investigating an alleged Easter bomb plot in Manchester believed they had intercepted a coded email urging al-Qaeda to ‘be ready to strike’.

The message – a seemingly innocuous note about a wedding – was intercepted on April 3 this year, just a week before Easter.

The email sparked arrests in Manchester and across the north west. Twelve people were held – but none was ever charged.

Anti-terror raids still divide residents

Details of the alleged plot have emerged for the first time in a damning report on the raids by the government’s independent reviewer of terror laws, Lord Carlile.

He slammed police for failing to consult specialist, security-vetted Crown Prosecution Service lawyers until a week AFTER the suspects were detained.

He also criticised apparent police ignorance about terror laws and questioned the ‘combat-style’ arrests – three of which were carried out by armed officers in Cheetham Hill.

Resigned

The raids had to be brought forward after the country’s most senior anti-terror cop, Bob Quick, was pictured walking into Downing Street holding documents about the impending raids. He later resigned.

Lord Carlile said the email that sparked the raids, was ‘suspicious’ but too ‘vague’ to secure a conviction.

Detectives believe it was written by an IT student who they were watching at a computer in an internet cafe Cheetham Hill at the moment it was sent.

Intelligence suggested the student, a Pakistani national, had links with an Al Qaeda terror cell abroad.

They believed he could have been planning an attack himself and was in contact with foreign terrorists planning a ‘very significant international plot’, said Lord Carlile.

The message, intercepted by the Counter Terrorism Unit of Greater Manchester, states: “I met with Nadia family and both parties have agreed to conduct the Nikkah (wedding) after the 15th and before the 20th of this month. I have confirmed the dates from them and they said you should be ready between these dates.”

In the Islamic calendar, the dates equate to a period beginning April 10, the start of Easter in the Christian calendar.

Police knew of no ‘Nadia’ nor any woman connected to the group and had not seen signs of wedding preparations.

Coded

Similar coded language had been used in two previous plots, said Lord Carlile. Police bosses are standing by their actions, saying they acted properly during a fast-paced probe.

They said the investigation remained ‘live’ – even though 11 of the suspects were no longer in Britain.

Lord Carlile told the M.E.N: “The police had well-founded suspicion. It’s not for me to decide whether there’s a criminal plot ongoing. That’s not my role. But I certainly think it justified the arrests, or at least some of them. I don’t want heads to roll. But we need to make sure that they operate to the best standards available. This is not the blame game. It’s the improvement game.”

Cheetham Hill councillor Afzal Khan, a senior figure in the Muslim community who was interviewed by Lord Carlile, said: “We are all in this together and it’s important police consult with local people. I didn’t think it was appropriate we were learning about the police operation from the general population and the media when something like this has a rippling affect in the community.”

A solicitor who represented one of the suspects told the M.E.N: “When I walked into the police station, I didn’t know the basis for the arrest and when my client was released two weeks later, I still didn’t know.”

Anti-terror raids still divide residents