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Christianophobia? What Christianophobia?

Police have arrested five suspected Islamist terrorists, working as street cleaners in London, over an alleged plan assassinate the Pope.

The men were arrested during raids at 5.45am at a rubbish depot in central London based on an intelligence tip off received overnight.

The suspects, aged 26, 27, 36, 40 and 50 were arrested by officers from Scotland Yard’s Counter Terrorism Command on suspicion of the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism.

They are said to be from a variety of nationalities including a number of Algerian origin.

The depot where they worked is less than a mile from Hyde Park where the Pope was due to hold a prayer vigil tomorrow evening.

As street cleaners they would have been able to move relatively freely and inconspicuously through the London crowds.

Westminster City Council said the men worked for Veolia Environmental Services, a contractor which employs 650 on-street staff to keep Westminster's streets clean and free from rubbish.

The men have been taken to a central London police station where they will be interviewed by detectives.

Searches are being carried out under the Terrorism Act 2000 at the rubbish depot and at residential premises in north and east London.

Sources said that initial searches had not uncovered any bomb-making or hazardous items.

A spokesman for the Metropolitan Police said the arrests were made after they received “information” and added: “Following initial inquiries by detectives a decision was made to arrest the five men.”

Pope Benedict XVI’s security arrangements were reviewed following the arrests and Scotland Yard said “we are satisfied that our current policing plan remains appropriate. The itinerary has not changed.”

There was no change to the terrorism threat level which remains at “severe” meaning that a terrorist attack is highly likely.

The Pope continued with his engagements, unaffected by the developments.

The Pope has been informed of the arrests, Vatican spokesman Fr Lombardi said. He told reporters there was "no need to change anything about the programme with the Pope and the security for this trip".

"The Pope is calm and happy and we go on with this trip with courage and joy," he added.

"We are totally confident in the work of the police and Scotland Yard."

A multimillion-pound operation is in place to protect the Pope during his tour of Scotland, London and the West Midlands, with thousands of officers involved.

The pontiff is also protected by members of the Swiss Guard.

He often travels in the Popemobile, which has a bulletproof glass enclosure. The Vatican abandoned the use of an open-topped vehicle after the assassination attempt on Pope John Paul II in 1981.

A spokesman for the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales said: "We have absolute confidence in the security operation to protect both the Pope and the public.

"The Pope is enjoying a wonderful visit, warmly welcomed wherever he goes."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstop ... -plot.html

Did anyone read what happened to this story? Was there a 'Muslim' plot to kill the Pope?

Islamophobic headlines in the press, surely not?

Six Algerian street cleaners arrested for planning to kill Pope Benedict were pronounced innocent and released without any charges.

The six were arrested in London by British police on the basis of a conversation overhead. According to those critical of the police, if the pope had been under any threat it might have come from the gay right groups, or the hundreds of victims who had suffered sexual abuse by Catholic priests; Or was this as critics have claimed just another opportunity to play the Muslim card again by the authorities and media as the tabloids went to town with blaring headlines like "Muslim Terrorists Plot to Kill Pope".

An opportunity once again to perpetuate the myth that all Muslims are terrorists, something they have been doing successfully for over a decade.

http://arabnews.com/opinion/columns/art ... mments=all


Cheers,
Shafique

Not often one gets a chance to quote (or even read) the Socialist Worker - but this was too good to pass up:

Refuse workers’ plan to kill Pope? What rubbish

“Muslim plot To Kill Pope,” screamed The Daily Express last Saturday. And, urged on by police leaks, the rest of the press joined in.

They all reported that six Muslim men had been arrested after cops uncovered an Al Qaida assassination plot.

According to the papers, terrorists “disguised as refuse collectors” were on their way to blow up the Pope.

In fact, the extent of their plotting was that, over a cup of tea, one of the men was overheard saying, “It would be pretty difficult to shoot the Pope, wouldn’t it, as his car is bullet-proof?”

Another then said, “Yeah, but I bet an RPG (rocket propelled grenade) would get through that easily enough.”

The group laughed, before changing the subject. That was enough for armed police to raid the depot and the homes of the six men.

No weapons were found and the men were later released without charge.

But instead of a front page apology, the Express managed only a begrudging six lines on the workers’ innocence—buried on page nine.

http://www.socialistworker.co.uk/art.php?id=22519

LOL

Jihadwatch has even had to admit (although grudgingly) that the guys were freed without charge. So much for 'A Muslim Plot'.

U.K.: Those arrested in plot to kill Pope are "Algerian street cleaners"
UPDATE: All were freed without being charged.

http://www.jihadwatch.org/2010/09/uk-fi ... -pope.html

But look for an explanation on Spencer's blog and there's nothing there to indicate that there was no plot, just some guys chatting over a cup of tea about whether the pope-mobile is bullet proof!

Cheers,
Shafique