Pakistani intelligence officials have said that al least one of 12 suspects held on suspicion of being involved in terrorist activities in Britain was arrested as a result of intelligence gathered from the arrest of a man in Lahore, Pakistan. They said during an interrogation of Naeem Noor Khan -- described as an al Qaeda computer expert -- he told them there was a terror network in Britain and he frequently relayed messages from Pakistan to its leader, an important al Qaeda operative.

Pakistani officials said after British authorities received this information, they made their raids. They said the person Khan had identified as the leader was among those arrested.

British police declined to confirm the information, and said the arrests in London and other cities this week were the result of a long-planned, intelligence-led operation that began before recent arrests in Pakistan.

"The short answer is, the investigation preceded that," said a London police spokesman.


Pakistani intelligence sources revealed that Khan's father works for Pakistan's state run airlines and over the past four to five years he has obtained five tickets in his son's name for travel between Pakistan and London. It is not known if the tickets were ever used.