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Terror raid teenager handed over Terror raid teenager handed over
(40 minutes later)
An 18-year-old arrested over an alleged terror bomb plot in north-west England has been released into UK Border Agency custody, police have said.An 18-year-old arrested over an alleged terror bomb plot in north-west England has been released into UK Border Agency custody, police have said.
Officers have been granted a further week to question the other 11 suspects as searches continue at 10 premises in Manchester and Liverpool.Officers have been granted a further week to question the other 11 suspects as searches continue at 10 premises in Manchester and Liverpool.
Sources say search teams have found images of Manchester shopping centres.Sources say search teams have found images of Manchester shopping centres.
Ministers rejected claims that border controls were lax, after it emerged 10 of the suspects were on student visas.Ministers rejected claims that border controls were lax, after it emerged 10 of the suspects were on student visas.
The suspects - aged 22 to 41 - are being held at locations across the country, including four in the West Midlands, police say. It is widely expected that the 18-year-old will be deported, according to the BBC's Chris Buckler.
[London] makes billions of pounds a year out of selling further and higher education to people from abroad. They will find a way round it - if it isn't students coming in, it will be tourists Former London Mayor Ken Livingstone class="" href="/1/hi/uk/7991936.stm"> Where terror raids took place The remaining suspects - aged 22 to 41 - are being held at locations across the country, including four in the West Midlands, police say.
They were arrested during raids in the Cheetham Hill area of Manchester, Liverpool and Clitheroe in Lancashire.They were arrested during raids in the Cheetham Hill area of Manchester, Liverpool and Clitheroe in Lancashire.
[Applicants] should be given a full interview by a UK-based visa officer and only admitted if they can demonstrate that they are genuine Sir Andrew GreenMigrationwatch UK Where terror raids took place
Police say they have not identified any specific targets. However, the BBC understands that images found during searches showed the Arndale and Trafford Centre shopping complexes, Birdcage nightclub and St Ann's Square.Police say they have not identified any specific targets. However, the BBC understands that images found during searches showed the Arndale and Trafford Centre shopping complexes, Birdcage nightclub and St Ann's Square.
Meanwhile, the revelations regarding the nationality of the suspects have stoked concerns that the authorities have lost the ability to control Britain's border security. Staff at the Arndale and Trafford Centres said they had not been informed of any threat and that stores were operating as normal over the Easter weekend.
In particular, critics have pointed to alleged deficiencies within the student visa system, and the fact that of the 12 men arrested, 10 were in the UK on student visas. Police are not thought to have recovered any explosive devices during their searches. BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner said his understanding was that the alleged plot had been at the "aspirational, not operational" stage.
Home Office figures for between April 2004 and April 2008 - the last year for which figures are available - show that about 42,000 Pakistani nationals entered the UK on student visas. Meanwhile, critics of the UK's border controls have pointed to alleged deficiencies within the student visa system and the fact that 10 of the suspects had such visas.
Conservative shadow home secretary Chris Grayling called on the government to "urgently step up" background checks on students coming to Britain from countries which have been linked to terror. Latest Home Office figures show that between April 2004 and April 2008 about 42,000 Pakistani nationals entered the UK on student visas.
The chairman of immigration campaign group Migrationwatch UK, Sir Andrew Green, said student visas were a "gaping hole" in Britain's borders. Conservative shadow home secretary Chris Grayling called on the government to "urgently step up" background checks on students from countries linked to terror.
Pakistan's High Commissioner to the UK: 'You can't blame Pakistan'' 'Inadequate checks'
The chairman of immigration campaign group Migrationwatch UK, Sir Andrew Green, said "inadequate" checks on student visas had left a "gaping hole" in Britain's borders.
"Applicants from countries of concern like Pakistan and North Africa should be given a full interview by a UK-based visa officer and only admitted if they can demonstrate that they are genuine," he said."Applicants from countries of concern like Pakistan and North Africa should be given a full interview by a UK-based visa officer and only admitted if they can demonstrate that they are genuine," he said.
"Last year over 10,000 students were admitted from Pakistan with what are clearly inadequate checks." Former London Mayor, Ken Livingstone, said terrorists would "find a way around" any changes to the visa system.
Former London Mayor, Ken Livingstone, told BBC Radio 4's Any Questions programme that even if the visa system was changed, foreign nationals would find a way to get into Britain.
"This city [London] makes billions of pounds a year out of selling further and higher education to people from abroad. They will find a way round it. If it isn't students coming in, it will be tourists.
"We catch these people because of electronic surveillance and double agents and we aren't going to pick one up easily at the border," he said."We catch these people because of electronic surveillance and double agents and we aren't going to pick one up easily at the border," he said.
Background checks Footage of police raiding a flat in Cheetham Hill on Wednesday
However the government insisted that the student visa system had already been tightened up. The Home Office says the UK student visa system was tightened in September 2007.
The Home Office said Pakistani nationals who applied for UK student visas have had to pass strict vetting procedures introduced in September 2007. Pakistani applicants went through vetting procedures such as fingerprint tests and checks against criminal and counter-terrorism databases, a spokesman said.
The procedures include fingerprint tests and a check of applicants' identities against criminal and counter-terrorism databases, as well as additional immigration and asylum checks.
From autumn this year, British universities will also be obliged to check the names of overseas students against a government database of terror suspects.From autumn this year, British universities will also be obliged to check the names of overseas students against a government database of terror suspects.
Pictures of Manchester's Arndale Centre are thought to have been found It is unknown whether any of the suspects arrested on Wednesday applied for their visas after September 2007.
However, it is not yet known whether any of the suspects arrested on Wednesday applied for their overseas student visas after September 2007. After Wednesday's raids Prime Minister Gordon Brown challenged Pakistan to do more to weed out potential extremists who might target the UK.
If they did apply after that date, it could mean that they passed all the tests designed to weed out extremists. Immigration minister Phil Woolas then rejected criticism from Pakistan's High Commissioner, Wajid Shamsul Hasan, who accused the UK of refusing help with background checks.
Immigration minister Phil Woolas told the BBC that secret British intelligence and intelligence from other countries was also being used "in a targeted way". A Downing Street spokesman has since confirmed that Mr Brown and President Asif Ali Zardari have spoken on the telephone and agreed "the UK and Pakistan share a serious threat from terrorism and violent extremism".
And he rejected criticism from Pakistan's High Commissioner, Wajid Shamsul Hasan, who accused the UK of refusing Pakistani offers of help with background checks.
"It's naive to think that we don't check, we do work very closely with the Pakistan authorities, indeed we've been criticised for doing so," Mr Woolas said.
The joint anti-terror approach was being reinforced by Downing Street on Friday, which said Gordon Brown and Pakistan's president were "committed to working together".
After Wednesday's raids Mr Brown challenged Pakistan to do more to weed out potential extremists who might target the UK.
A spokesman confirmed Mr Brown and President Asif Ali Zardari had since spoken on the telephone and agreed "the UK and Pakistan share a serious threat from terrorism and violent extremism".
Police are continuing to search properties in the north west of England
In Manchester, it was business as usual for the shopping centres allegedly named in the suspected plot.
Security staff at the Trafford Centre and officials at Manchester Arndale said they had not been informed of any threat.
And an Arndale spokesman said: "Both Manchester Arndale and the The Birdcage will be operating as normal over the Easter weekend."
Police are not thought to have recovered any explosive devices during their searches.
BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner said his understanding was that the alleged plot had been at the "aspirational, not operational" stage.