Pak arrested two Britons linked with plot last week

London, Aug 11 (UNI) Two Britons of Pakistani origin were arrested in Lahore and Karachi respectively in a closely coordinated intelligence swoop on the alleged plot to blow up US-bound passenger jets from Britain.

''Our intelligence agencies made the arrests about one week ago,'' a government official in Islamabad said and added that they provided information about the plot. He did not have details on whether the suspects had links with Al Qaida or other militant group.

Islamabad also arrested an unspecified number of British nationals, believed to be Muslims. Meanwhile, 21 British Muslims were arrested in the United Kingdom.

Pakistan claimed it had played ''a very important role'' in uncovering the plot and said closely guarded intelligence shared with the United Kingdom and the United States led to the arrests of militants thought to be planning to blow up trans-Atlantic flights from London. The militants allegedly sought to bring down as many as 10 planes in a nearly simultaneous strike that US officials say was suggestive of an Al Qaida operation.

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