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Man arrested in Alva terrorism raid

A 20-year-old man has been arrested during a major anti-terrorism operation carried out at a family home in Alva, near Stirling, at around 7am on Monday 13 April. He was detained under the Terrorism Act 2000 after what police described as a "pre-planned intelligence led" operation. More than 60 officers took part in the raid. Some were armed and many were in riot gear. A battering ram was used to gain entry to the building.

The man arrested was a 20 year old student called Mohammed Atif Siddique. It emerged later that he had been interrogated by police at Glasgow Airport eight days earlier, when he was about to fly to Pakistan. Police stopped him on 5 April and questioned him for more than four hours in relation to images found on a laptop computer he was carrying. He was travelling with his uncle, who is from Pakistan.Officers released the men but confiscated the laptop, which is thought to have contained images from Iraq which were downloaded from a website.

Atif Siddiqui asked his lawyer, Aamer Anwar, to state that "he is not a terrorist and he completely and utterly condemns the atrocities of 11 September and 7 July."

An application by police to hold the suspect for more time was approved yesterday by a sheriff during a special, private hearing at Govan police station in Glasgow, where Mr Siddique is being held. The detention period expires at 7.06am on Thursday, 20 April. Police may then apply for a further extension up to an overall total of 14 days. They will then have to either charge Atif Siddique or release him.