UK plays down Pak claim, denies leads

The arrests in Pakistan that led investigators to Al-Hindi began in June with the apprehension of Mussad Aruchi, an Al Qaeda operative. Aruchi’s capture led to the arrest of Muhammad Naeem Noor Khan, a Pakistani, in Lahore on July 13, and to Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani, a Tanzanian wanted in the 1998 bombings of the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.

A Pakistani government official said Heathrow maps were found on computers of Mohammad Naeem Noor Khan, described as an Al Qaeda communications expert.

‘‘The crackdown in London is based on information extracted from him,’’ a US official said. ‘‘Maps of Heathrow were found from his computer which was one of their targets.’’ Khan’s computers also provided the data that led to the clampdown in New York.

A Pakistani intelligence officer said: ‘‘We got the information on the people who were arrested in Britain from the computer of Mohammad Naeem Noor Khan. We got some names and there were some e-mails he had sent.’’

An intelligence source said Ghailani told interrogators of plans for suicide attacks within Pakistan, including Karachi airport and an airbase used by President Pervez Musharraf. Ghailani was found with a computer and more than 150 disks which a source said contained maps of ‘‘important places’’ in the US, Israel and Pakistan.

Sources said the Al Qaeda had a two-pronged strategy: ‘‘They want to carry out a big attack in Europe. In Pakistan they want to target government officials.’’ But the precise role of Pakistani intelligence in the British arrests was far from clear. British police would not comment on the 12 men’s identities, the allegations against them or the source of intelligence that prompted the arrests. ‘‘Our operation was ongoing before any of the recent arrests in Pakistan,’’ a spokesman said.

British officials said there was no threat to Heathrow, which saw several security scares last year. ‘‘If there was a specific threat we would tell people, as was the case over British Airways flights to America some months ago,’’ Cabinet minister Peter Hain said.