London: The teenage son of a Muslim immigrant from India and suspected al-Qaeda leader in Britain are among the 24 people arrested in connection with the foiled plot to blow up the US-bound planes from the UK.
Abdul Patel, 17, is the youngest among the suspects held on last Thursday, is the son of a Muslim immigrant from India, a report said.
Patel was one of the 19 suspects who were named and whose assets were frozen by Bank of England.
Also, Scotland Yard believes that one of those arrested is al-Qaeda's leader in Britain and has been acting as a suspected hub in a network of extremist groups, including Kashmiri and north African groups based in the UK, The Sunday Times reported.
Quoting Home Office officials, it said one of those arrested is suspected not only of masterminding the foiled plot to bomb the US-bound flights, but also of involvement in other planned atrocities over the past few years.
They believe that he was instrumental in sending the ringleader of at least one previous British terror plot for training at a camp in Pakistan last year.
He is described by counter-terrorist officials at Mi5, the British intelligence service, as the senior figure in a British terror network involving Kashmiri, north African and Iraqi cells.
The investigation into the suspected al-Qaeda leader in Britain and his UK associates was considered by Eliza Manningham-Buller, Mi5's Director General, to be the security service's single most important line of inquiry.
He is suspected of being behind two "pipelines" which saw potential terrorist recruits being sent for training at camps in Pakistan and to join "holy war" in Iraq.
"The Al-Qaeda leader - who cannot be named for legal reasons - acts as a suspected hub in a network of extremist groups. These include Kashmiri and north African groups based in this country. He is linked to a second suspect also in Britain who has played a major role in facilitating support for the Iraq 'jihad'," the report said.
About Patel, it said, one of his former friends recalled how the 17-year-old boy had changed from being a carefree person who used to enjoy playing football in the street into a cold and temperamental youth.
The friend claimed that Patel's character had changed two or three years ago when his father, a mechanic called Mohammed, travelled to Iraq on a Muslim aid mission and, apparently, never returned home, the paper said.
Having attended Northwold primary school, which is directly opposite his home, Patel's secondary education was cut short. He was expelled at the age of 15 or 16.
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"He was kicked out because he was bunking off lessons all the time. He didn't try to get back into school and just ended up staying at home all day. I don't think he started work. At one stage he used to come around to help us carry out repairs in our home, but in less than a year he turned 180 degrees," the friend told the paper.
Patel had taken to wearing traditional Muslim clothes. But more recently, said the friend, he switched back to western clothing but nobody knew why. "He did have a temper on him. Only last week he was arguing with my grandfather for staring at him in the street," the friend said.
Amin Asmin Tariq, another of those nabbed in east London whose company Jet Airways has suspended him, "did not look shocked, just perfectly calm" when he was held, a neighbour said. Tariq, 23, recently became father, the paper said.
Tariq's cousin Tanvir Hussain, 25 was also arrested. He was described by neighbours as an ordinary, quiet young man.
Recently married, he sports a bushy beard and wears western clothes.
After leaving university he worked as a telesales representative for Mobile Connections, a phone company.
He was often seen driving a black four-door Mercedes and praying along side his family at the Noor-ul-Islam mosque in Leyton.
One local, who did not wish to be named, claimed that Hussain in private had become increasingly resentful over the past two or three years.
"He was an angry young man," said the source. The object of his rage was apparently British foreign policy in Afghanistan, Iraq and Israel.
Relatives said his behaviour had changed in recent weeks. One friend said Hussain had been making trips outside London.
"He visited some friends in High Wycombe about two weeks ago," said the source. During a recent trip to see family members in the West Midlands, he made his excuses and left early. The source was surprised by his behaviour, recalling "he said he wanted to visit some mates in Birmingham."
The thwarting of the alleged plot has, however, failed to quash continuing fears among counter-terrorist experts.
Senior security officials have briefed ministers that a "second phase" of attacks may be about to be launched.
Ayman Zawahiri, al-Qaeda's deputy head, is said to have warned in a message placed on a restricted extremists' website last month that the terrorist group was planning two large-scale attacks this autumn, the report said.
The FBI has assigned 200 agents to follow up any leads that come out of the British investigation.
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