Terror suspect Abid Naseer held on US warrant

The US authorities want Mr Naseer to face trial

The alleged leader of an al-Qaeda plot to bomb British targets, who won the right to stay in the UK, has been arrested.

Abid Naseer was held after the United States issued a warrant for his arrest.

The US Justice Department has linked a failed plot to bomb the New York subway to the alleged UK conspiracy.

They believe senior figures in al-Qaeda had co-ordinated both operations from Pakistan.

Mr Naseer will be accused of conspiring alongside other al-Qaeda suspects to bomb the New York subway system last year.

Senior officials in the US said the plot was one of the most dangerous since the 9/11 terror attacks.

Two men have admitted planning to detonate home-made suicide bombs and a third waiting for trial.

Several suspects remain on the run, possibly along the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Court appearance

A special immigration court in Britain had said Mr Naseer, 24, was an al-Qaeda operative - but could not be deported because he faced torture or death in Pakistan.

He was arrested last year as part of a massive counter-terrorism operation in Liverpool and Manchester.

He was among 10 Pakistani nationals arrested.

The security services believed the men were planning to attack within days of their arrest, but Mr Naseer was not charged.

He is due to appear before the City of Westminster Magistrates' Court later on Wednesday after the US authorities requested his extradition so that he can face trial.

Mr Naseer, who used to live in Manchester, is accused of supporting a foreign terrorist organisation and conspiracy to use a destructive device.

A spokesman for the Metropolitan Police said: "Officers from the Metropolitan Police Service's Extradition Unit and the North East Counter Terrorism Unit have this afternoon arrested a man in the north-east of England.

Security threat

"Abid Naseer, 24, has been arrested in the United Kingdom pursuant to a provisional arrest warrant issued on July 7, 2010, at the request of the United States government.

"Naseer's extradition is sought by the United States government for the purposes of standing trial."

Mr Naseer won his appeal to stay in the UK in May although the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (Siac) said it believed Mr Naseer had posed a serious threat to national security.

It found he had been sending e-mails to an "al-Qaeda operative" in Pakistan - the e-mails were said to be at the heart of a plot to bomb targets in north-west England.

But Mr Justice Mitting said it would be wrong to return him to Pakistan.

At the time, Home Secretary Theresa May said she was disappointed but would not be appealing against the ruling.

She said: "We are now taking all possible measures to ensure they do not engage in terrorist activity."

The coalition government later announced it was to create a commission to review the UK's Human Rights Act.