British Police Arrest 7 in Anti-Terrorism Raids

Six men and one woman were arrested under the Terrorism Act 2000 during coordinated raids Thursday in England and Scotland, police said.

The act bans two dozen alleged international terrorist groups and makes it illegal to belong to or support them.

Police in the Lothian and Borders region of Scotland, which led the operation, said the Scotland raids occurred in Glasgow and Edinburgh and the England raids in London and Manchester.

Four people were arrested in Scotland and three in England.

“Although searches of the addresses are continuing, it is important to stress that there has been no discovery of dangerous substances at this time,” said Deputy Chief Constable Tom Wood, operations director of the Lothian and Borders police.

British police have carried out a series of raids since the discovery in early January of the deadly poison ricin in a North London apartment.

The British action was one of several related to the battle against terrorism Thursday.

In Germany, authorities raided two Islamic centers on suspicion that they were sheltering a terrorist group. Three of the centers’ leading members were questioned.

Prosecutors said the group they were searching for planned to attack a U.S. target in Germany.

In Rome, a judge indicted 12 terrorist suspects, including nine Moroccans suspected of plotting a chemical attack on the U.S. Embassy, a defense lawyer said.