Brown summit scare: suicide bomber seized
FOURTEEN suspected al Qaeda terrorists were detained by Belgian police today amid fears they were plotting a suicide mission against Gordon Brown and other EU leaders in Brussels.
Officials said the risk of an imminent attack had increased after one of the arrested men received the "green light" from his paymasters to go ahead.
They added that the man was believed to be mounting an operation "from which he was not expected to come back".
The police action - which follows the recent al Qaeda-linked terror attack in Mumbai - came as the 27 European leaders, including Mr Brown, French president Nicolas Sarkozy and German chancellor Angela Merkel, met for a two-day summit.
Announcing the detentions, Belgian federal prosecutor Johan Delmulle said one of the alleged plotters had already "said goodbye to his loved ones because he wanted to enter paradise with a clear conscience".
The operation to swoop on the alleged terror cell involved more than 240 police who carried out 16 raid in Brussels and one in Liege. The men are believed to have received terror training in jihadi camps in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Mr Delmulle said that the information the security services had on the alleged cell "linked to the fact that the EU summit is being held in Belgium at the moment, left us with no choice but to intervene today".
He said: "It could have been an operation in Pakistan or Afghanistan, but it can't be ruled out that Belgium or Europe could have been the target."
However, one source added that at least three of the 14 men held by detectives were definitely believed to have been planning a suicide mission in Belgium on behalf of Osama bin Laden's terror network. "There were indications of the possibility that they were planning an attack somewhere," added the source.
He added that at this stage none of the men had been arrested but had been detained as a preventative measure.
Officials added that the police investigation which led to today's action was the biggest anti-terror inquiry in Belgium. Mr Delmulle said detectives had confiscated computers, data storage equipment and a pistol during the raids.
An EU spokesman said there had been no change to security arrangements for the summit.
