A police officer guards an internet cafe in Birmingham, central England, after a series of anti-terror arrests January 31, 2007.(Xinhua/Reuters Photo) Photo Gallery >>>

Police officers stand guard outside a property in Jackson Road in Birmingham in central England after a series of anti-terror arrests January 31, 2007. British police carried out a major nationwide anti-terrorism operation on Wednesday, arresting eight people in a series of dawn raids which media reports said had thwarted a significant planned attack. Detectives said the people were (Xinhua/Reuters Photo) Photo Gallery >>>

British police arrest 8 terrorism suspects

    BEIJING, Jan. 31 (Xinhuanet) -- British police arrested eight people in a series of dawn raids in an anti-terrorism operation Wednesday in the central England city of Birmingham.

    Media reports said th e raids thwarted a plot to kidnap a young man and carry out an "Iraq-style" execution. Detectives said the suspected conspirators were arrested on "suspicion of the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism."

    A number of streets were sealed off in Birmingham, Britain's second largest city and one of its most ethnically diverse, including a large Muslim population.

    Media reports, citing unnamed sources, said police and MI5 had stopped a major terrorist plot in the latter stages of planning, or near fruition, which involved the kidnapping of an individual, although not a high-profile figure.

    "As a precautionary measure we will have an enhanced police presence at these locations,"  West Midlands police said in a statement, adding there was no "specific threat" to the area.

    Such a murder would be similar to the fate of Briton Ken Bigley, who was kidnapped and later beheaded by al-Qaida's then-leader in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, in 2004, as well as other hostages.

    Neither the police nor the government would confirm the reports. The Home Office issued a statement saying the arrests were part of a nationwide operation.

    "This operation is a reminder of the real and serious nature of the terrorist threat we face," the Home Office said.

    Security services believe a terrorist attack is highly likely and Britain, hit by an attack on public transport in 2005 that killed 52 people, is on its second highest alert level.

    A police source told Reuters the suspected plot would not have caused mass casualties, but would have involved a new terrorism tactic.

    "It wasn't a mass Tube (underground train) or plane-type thing," the source said.

    Sky TV, which said it knew the target's identity, a man in his 20s, quoted sources as saying the intent was to mimic the abductions and beheadings of Westerners carried out by militants in Iraq and post a video of the killing on the Internet.

    Last year the head of MI5, Britain's domestic spy service, said about 30 terrorism plots were being worked on and agents were monitoring around 1,600 suspects.

    In August last year, detectives said they had foiled a suspected plot to blow up trans-Atlantic airliners bound for the United States using liquid explosives.

    (Agencies)