Police in Britain arrested a 21-year-old man and a 16-year-old youth as terrorist suspects, and were conducting searches at three locations, authorities said Wednesday.
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 in connection with the arrest, police said.
Two other homes in Dewsbury, near Bradford, were also searched by police after the 16-year-old was arrested Wednesday afternoon.
Located in the heart of Dewsbury's Indian Muslim community, the homes are less than a minute walk from the Markaz mosque.
After the arrest, people gathered on the streets to watch police as they continued their search of the houses.
Neither the teenager nor the 21-year-old have been identified by police.
Residents said the people at one of the houses being 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 continue their work and to go home, area resident Hanifa Darwan said.
Police refused to comment on reports by the British Broadcasting Corp. that the arrests were linked to an alleged terrorist plot in Canada. Seventeen people were arrested there on charges of plotting to attack Canadian targets.
A lawyer for one of the men arrested in Canada said prosecutors have accused some of the suspects of plotting to storm that country's Parliament, take hostages and behead the prime minister unless Canada withdraws its troops from Afghanistan.
In a separate case Wednesday, a 26-year-old man accused in the United States of giving funds and military equipment to al-Qaida made his first court appearance and refused to consent to extradition.
During a brief hearing in London's Bow Street Magistrates Court, Syed Hashmi spoke only to confirm his name and date of birth. Judge Timothy Workman denied Hashmi's application for bail, and ordered him held until his next court date on June 15.
Hashmi, a resident of New York's Queens borough, was arrested by the Metropolitan Police Extradition Unit on Tuesday night at Heathrow airport as he prepared to board a flight to Pakistan, prosecutors said.
Prosecuting attorney Laura Rosefield, representing the United States, said Hashmi was accused of supplying military equipment and currency to al-Qaida operatives in Afghanistan.
She said he was carrying "a large amount of cash" when he was arrested.
Rosefield said Hashmi was a U.S. citizen who had lived in Britain since 2003, though his student visa had expired.
The U.S. indictment alleged that Hashmi and others conspired to provide, and then actually provided, material support or resources to al-Qaida between January 2004 and last month.
Pat Milton contributed to this story.
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