Sean O'Neill and Zahid Hussain | April 14
MOST of the Pakistani men arrested in a British anti-terrorist operation last week will be deported rather than charged, according to senior counter-terrorism sources.
Officials in London and Islamabad said Britain had begun seeking assurances about how the men would be treated if they were returned to Pakistan.
"The British wanted to be reassured that if some of these men were deported they would not face torture," an informed source in Pakistan said.
One of the 12 men detained, an 18-year-old, has been freed from anti-terrorist detention and is held by immigration officials.
Investigators are concerned they have not found any firm evidence linking the men to terrorist plans. A source close to the inquiry said: "There is already talk of coming up empty-handed, and there is terrible in-fighting between the different forces involved."
Operation Pathway, the code name for the inquiry, has already led to the resignation of Britain's most senior anti-terrorist officer, Bob Quick, after he accidentally revealed details of the arrest plans to photographers in Downing Street.
If the operations results in deportations rather than charges, it will embarrass Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who said the police were dealing with "a very big terrorist plot", and criticised Pakistan for not doing more to tackle Islamist terrorism.
The operation in Britain has been running covertly for several weeks and went public last Wednesday within hours of Mr Quick's blunder, with daylight raids in Manchester, Liverpool and Clitheroe, Lancashire.
The remaining 11 detainees, 10 of whom are believed to be Pakistani nationals in Britain on student visas, are being questioned at police stations across the north of England. Detectives have been granted a further seven days to detain the suspects, who range in age from 22 to 41. They can be questioned for a maximum of 28 days before they have to be charged or released.
The investigation is a joint operation between Scotland Yard's counter-terrorism command, MI5 and the North-West Counter-terrorism Unit.
The involvement of so many security services is said to have led to in-fighting and confusion over the command and direction of the inquiry.
The latest discussions between London and Islamabad were disclosed as news emerged from Pakistan that its anti-terrorist agencies had been holding a British convert to Islam for two weeks. James McLintock, 44, was detained in Peshawar, from where many of the men arrested in Britain come, and is being questioned about helping British Muslim militants to make contacts in Pakistan.
Pakistani and British officials said the arrest of Mr McLintock, from Dundee in Scotland, was not linked to the terrorism investigation in Britain.
However, the last time he came to the attention of the British authorities was in late 2003 when he was questioned by anti-terrorist police in Manchester, the city at the heart of the allegations of a terror plot.
Meanwhile, the family of a university student said they believed their son had been arrested, and appealed for his release. Relatives of Mohammad Ramzan, from Dera in Pakistan, said they had been unable to contact him since last week.
His father, Haji Hazrat Ali, said Mr Ramzan, 25, travelled to Britain in 2006 and was studying for an MBA. "He is a very humble, gentle boy and always concentrates on his studies," he told Associated Press. "I firmly believe he cannot be involved in any negative activity."
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