NBC News: US and UK Disagreed on Timing for Terror Arrests
Via Patriot Daily, NBC reports that the UK didn't want to arrest the London Terror suspects this week, but the US did.
NBC News has learned that U.S. and British authorities had a significant disagreement over when to move in on the suspects in the alleged plot to bring down trans-Atlantic airliners bound for the United States.
A senior British official knowledgeable about the case said British police were planning to continue to run surveillance for at least another week to try to obtain more evidence, while American officials pressured them to arrest the suspects sooner. The official spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the case.
This British official contradicts earlier reports that the threats were imminent.
While Bush today denied any disagreeements, an Administration official said otherwise and reiterated the timing disagreement.
There was also disagreement over the arrest of Rashid Rauf in Pakistan:
The British official said the Americans also argued over the timing of the arrest of suspected ringleader Rashid Rauf in Pakistan, warning that if he was not taken into custody immediately, the U.S. would "render" him or pressure the Pakistani government to arrest him.
British security was concerned that Rauf be taken into custody "in circumstances where there was due process," according to the official, so that he could be tried in British courts. Ultimately, this official says, Rauf was arrested over the objections of the British.
So the U.S. wanted to go the "ghost air" route. As to the stage of the plan at the time of the arrests:
NBC News has previously reported that the explosive mixture was tested in Pakistan. The source said the suspects in Britain had obtained at least some of the materials for the explosive but had not yet actually prepared or mixed it.
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