http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30000-1249593,00.html
Kidnap And Beheading Plot
Updated: 13:16, Wednesday January 31, 2007
The eight people arrested by terror police in Birmingham were allegedly planning an Iraq-style kidnapping and beheading in the UK.
Sky's Crime Correspondent Martin Brunt says they intended to post a video of the hostage being tortured and killed on the internet.
Their target was a British Muslim soldier in his twenties who is now under police protection.
The soldier, who has not been named, has served with UK forces in Afghanistan.
His abduction would have mirrored the kidnappings of the British hostages Ken Bigley and Margaret Hassan by Iraqi insurgents.
The suspects - believed to be of Pakistani origin - were detained under the Terrorism Act after a six-month surveillance operation.
One of the sealed-off roads
It is thought they are being held in Coventry. Two are said to be males aged 31 and 29. The latter has been named locally as Amjad Mahmood.
More details will be given at a press conference at 3pm. You can watch it live on Sky News online.
Brunt said officers feared the alleged plot was "coming to fruition".
The fact the aim was apparently not to cause mass casualties, as in previous terror attacks, signalled a "chilling" change in tactics.
The suspects had been tracked in a combined police operation led by the Midlands Counter Terrorism Unit.
They were supported by officers from the West Midlands police and the Metropolitan Police.
Officers swooped on 12 addresses in the Sparkhill, Washwood Heath, Kingstanding and Edgbaston areas of Birmingham at 4am.
Van is towed away
West Midlands police said the eight were held "on suspicion of the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism under the Terrorism Act 2000.
"Twelve addresses have been secured and sealed off... and all are currently being searched."
The statement warned: "We are mindful that communities, locations or individuals don't become a target as a result of recent events.
"Hate crime will not be tolerated and we will take robust action where necessary."
A Home Office spokesman said: "This operation is a reminder of the real and serious nature of the terrorist threat we face."
Today's arrests come after police detained a total of five people in anti-terror raids in Manchester and Halifax, West Yorkshire, last week.