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No charges after anti-terror raid No charges after anti-terror raid
(30 minutes later)
All 12 men arrested over a suspected bomb plot in the UK have now been released without charge by police.All 12 men arrested over a suspected bomb plot in the UK have now been released without charge by police.
Eleven - all Pakistani nationals - have been transferred to UK Borders Agency custody and face possible deportation.Eleven - all Pakistani nationals - have been transferred to UK Borders Agency custody and face possible deportation.
The Crown Prosecution Service said there was insufficient evidence to press charges or hold them any longer. Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police Peter Fahy defended the "extremely complex" inquiry and said he was not "embarrassed or humiliated".
The Muslim Council of Britain said the government should admit it had made a mistake, but police defended their "extremely complex" investigation. However, the Muslim Council of Britain said the government should admit it had made a mistake.
Of the 12 men arrested in the raids, 11 were Pakistani nationals, with 10 holding student visas. One was from Britain. Of the 12 men arrested in raids in Liverpool, Manchester and Clitheroe in Lancashire, 11 were Pakistani nationals, with 10 holding student visas. One was from Britain.
The Crown Prosecution Service decided there was insufficient evidence to press charges or hold them any longer.
FROM THE TODAY PROGRAMME More from Today programmeFROM THE TODAY PROGRAMME More from Today programme
The lawyer, Mohammed Ayub, said in a statement: "After 13 days in custody, during which no evidence of any wrongdoing was disclosed, they [his three clients] have now been released without charge. Greater Manchester Police led the inquiry and Mr Fahy said: "I do not believe a mistake has been made.
"I do not feel embarrassed or humiliated about what we have done. We carried out our duty."
He added that the fact the raids had to be brought forward after Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner Bob Quick accidentally revealed secret documents to photographers had not affected the outcome.
Lawyer Mohammed Ayub, who is representing three of the men, said in a statement: "After 13 days in custody, during which no evidence of any wrongdoing was disclosed, they have now been released without charge.
"Our clients have no criminal history, they were here lawfully on student visas and all were pursuing their studies and working part-time. Our clients are neither extremists nor terrorists.""Our clients have no criminal history, they were here lawfully on student visas and all were pursuing their studies and working part-time. Our clients are neither extremists nor terrorists."
Inayat Bunglawala, of the Muslim Council of Britain, said the government had been "dishonourable" over the way it had dealt with the men.Inayat Bunglawala, of the Muslim Council of Britain, said the government had been "dishonourable" over the way it had dealt with the men.
Mr Bunglawala told the BBC that when the arrests "took place in very dramatic circumstances of students being arrested at university and thrown to the floor" the public had been assured the men posed a serious threat.Mr Bunglawala told the BBC that when the arrests "took place in very dramatic circumstances of students being arrested at university and thrown to the floor" the public had been assured the men posed a serious threat.
He said it was unacceptable for the government to make these sorts of prejudicial remarks from the outset, find insufficient evidence to bring charges, and then deport the men anyway. He said it was unacceptable for the government to make these sorts of prejudicial remarks from the outset and then, having found insufficient evidence to bring charges, to deport the men anyway.
'Premature remarks''Premature remarks'
"Politics should not be interfering with what is primarily a legal process," he said."Politics should not be interfering with what is primarily a legal process," he said.
"What we don't want is people becoming cynical as a result of politician's premature remarks and thinking: 'well, that's what they said last time'.""What we don't want is people becoming cynical as a result of politician's premature remarks and thinking: 'well, that's what they said last time'."
BBC security correspondent Gordon Corera said: "Counter-terrorism officers have told me they still think it was the right thing to do to move to arrest them." BBC security correspondent Gordon Corera said: "I think there will be a sense of a need to learn some lessons from this is in terms of public presentation."
But, he added: "I think there will be a sense of a need to learn some lessons from this is in terms of public presentation." Assistant Commissioner Quick - the UK's most senior counter-terrorism officer - quit his post a day after the operation.
The raids had to be brought forward following a blunder by the UK's most senior counter-terrorism officer.
Assistant Commissioner Bob Quick quit his post a day after the operation - after he had accidentally revealed operational details to photographers from a document he was carrying.
However, Home Secretary Jacqui Smith told MPs on Monday the error had not damaged the operation and the only impact had been that the raids had been brought forward "by a matter of hours".However, Home Secretary Jacqui Smith told MPs on Monday the error had not damaged the operation and the only impact had been that the raids had been brought forward "by a matter of hours".