BRITAIN: Explosive material has been found at the house of an al-Qaeda suspect who was arrested by police in Gloucester, England, yesterday in a major anti-terrorism raid.
Scotland Yard said the explosives had been removed safely from the house which belonged to a 24-year-old man from the area.
A police spokesman said: "We are confident that there is no longer a danger posed by explosives on the premises and work will begin to allow the local community to return to their homes as soon as is possible."
Earlier police said they had detained two men yesterday, one of whom is believed to have connections with al-Qaeda and whose arrest "could be pretty big", according to a security source.
Officers from the anti-terror branch a had evacuated the surrounding area as they hunted for explosives.
"It could be pretty big in the sense that if we find what we suspect we are looking for, then we have got something big," a security source said.
A 39-year-old man was arrested by anti-terror police yesterday in Manchester, Scotland Yard said. However, the source said this arrest was unconnected to the operation in Gloucester.
A police spokeswoman said the Gloucester man, British-born of Asian origin, had been arrested on "suspicion of involvement in the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism".
He has been taken to a police station in nearby Wiltshire.
The Home Secretary, Mr David Blunkett, said: "It is believed by the security and special branch services that this man has connections with the network of al-Qaeda groups.
"We would not have taken these steps if we didn't believe that this individual posed a very real threat to the life and liberty of our country," he said.
Sky News reported that the arrested man had links to Richard Reid, a British-born follower of Osama bin Laden, who was sentenced to life in prison in January for trying to blow up a transatlantic flight with explosives stuffed in his shoes.
However, neither the police nor security sources confirmed the alleged connection.
"There might possibly be a link but it might be something minor," a security source said.
The source added yesterday's operation was the culmination of months of investigation and that the search of the man's home would take a couple of days.
Officers were also searching two addresses in the northern town of Blackburn, including an Islamic college where the suspect was a former student.