Bus scare, terror arrests ramp up UK security concerns ahead of Olympics
London (CNN) -- Britain's police swung into action Thursday as two separate incidents, one involving a security scare on a bus and the other six terror arrests, pointed to the heightened state of alert ahead of the London Olympic Games.
Security is a central concern for UK authorities and the organizers of the Olympics, which start in three weeks.
After launching a major
response to the security alert on the bus, which led armed officers to
close a major motorway, police in Staffordshire concluded the incident
was not terror-related.
But its officers
responded "swiftly and proportionately" to credible information from a
concerned member of the public, a Staffordshire police statement said.
"We can now confirm that,
whilst this was a genuine security alert, the significant concerns
reported to us were unfounded," the statement said. "The information
received concerned a report of vapor escaping from a bag which on
investigation turned out to be a health improvement aid for smokers."
Bus stopped on British motorway
Hours earlier, police in
London arrested five men and a woman on terror charges, although they
said the operation was not related to the Olympics.
The six, aged from 18 to
30, were all arrested on suspicion of the commission, preparation or
instigation of acts of terrorism and are being questioned, London's
Metropolitan Police said. Officers searched homes in east, west and
north London as well as business premises in east London.
One of the men arrested
had worked from 2007 to 2009 as a police community support officer for
the Met Police, the force said in a statement, and "was not deployed in a
specialist or sensitive role." Police community support officers are
members of staff who work alongside the regular police force, mostly to
tackle local anti-social behavior and low level issues.
The operation in London is not linked to the Olympic and Paralympic Games, the police said.
Additional security measures will be in place in London and elsewhere during the Olympics.
They include the siting
of missile defense systems around the capital and fighter jets on
standby at air bases close to London. Police and intelligence agencies
have also stepped up monitoring efforts.
Thursday's dramatic
closure of the busy M6 Toll motorway, near Birmingham, had many
hallmarks of a response to a potential terror threat and could be seen
as a sign that police are taking no chances.
Armed police,
firefighters and military bomb disposal units raced to the scene as
passengers were evacuated from the bus, which had pulled over near the
town of Lichfield. Police in Britain are not usually armed when they
respond to incidents.
Passengers were lined up
on the tarmac for questioning, and their luggage and the vehicle
searched, before police confirmed that there was no terror threat and
that no one was considered a suspect.
"Our utmost priority was
the safety and security of those people on the coach and those
traveling on the motorway," the force said.
The 48 passengers who
were on the bus from the northwestern city of Preston to London are now
being taken on to their planned destination, a spokeswoman for Megabus
said.
"We would like to thank
our customers for their patience and understanding during today's police
operation, which followed concerns raised by a passenger during the
journey," a statement from the bus operator said.
"The safety and welfare of our passengers and our staff is our absolute priority."
The bus has been moved and the highway has reopened, police said.
Government officials
from Washington to London insist there are no known specific or credible
terror threats tied to the Olympic. Nonetheless, authorities on both
sides of the Atlantic are urging vigilance.
The Metropolitan Police
is leading the "largest peacetime operation" seen in the United Kingdom
as it seeks to keep the public safe, it said, with up to 9,500 police
officers from London and elsewhere to be deployed on the busiest days of
the Olympics.
As a result, London's
residents and its visitors can expect to see a large police presence on
the streets and airport-style security at Olympic venues.
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