2 Held in Britain as Terrorism Suspects

Police in Britain arrested a 21-year-old man and a 16-year-old as terrorism suspects and searched five houses in connection with the case, authorities said Wednesday.

The arrests were connected to the recent breakup of a suspected terrorist cell in Canada, said a British government official who asked not to be named for security reasons.

The man, identified only as a resident of Bradford, was arrested Tuesday night at Manchester airport, West Yorkshire police said. Officers searched three houses in Bradford, police said.

Two homes in Dewsbury, near Bradford, were also searched after the teenager was arrested Wednesday afternoon.

The Dewsbury homes, located in the heart of the town’s Indian Muslim community, are less than a minute’s walk from the Markaz mosque.

Area residents said the people at one of the houses searched belonged to a well-known and respected family. After the police raid, some people were angry and wanted to organize a march in support of the teenager, but a preacher told them to allow the police to work and to go home, neighborhood resident Hanifa Darwan said.

Police refused to comment on reports that the arrests were linked to the case in Canada. Seventeen people were arrested there last weekend on charges of plotting to attack Canadian targets.

A lawyer for one of the men arrested in Canada has said prosecutors accused some of the suspects of plotting to storm that country’s Parliament, take hostages and behead the prime minister unless Canada withdrew its troops from Afghanistan.

The British government official said the Canadian case had links to the arrest in Britain in October of a suspected extremist who, the official said, was active on the Internet communicating with suspected militants in other countries. The case was also connected with suspects in Bosnia-Herzegovina, the official added.