New British Terror Plot Thwarted

This time, instead of bombings, the alleged plotters were seeking to kidnap a Muslim serving as a British soldier inside the UK and then behead him in a video to be uploaded to the Internet.

A major anti-terrorism raid in the UK was intended to foil a plot to kidnap a Muslim soldier serving in the British Army, and behead him, according to a security source.

Police arrested eight people during a series of early-morning raids in Birmingham, central England, early Wednesday, according to statements released by police and the Home Office.

The Home Office said the eight were arrested in Birmingham by West Midlands police under the country's anti-terrorism laws.

The arrests did not involve a plot to cause mass casualties, but instead the kidnap of a British Muslim soldier who has served in Afghanistan, a senior security source told CNN.

Once kidnapped, the attackers allegedly planned to videotape the torture and execution of the soldier for later publication on the Internet.

Media reports said the plot would have involved an "Iraq-style" execution.

Some talking head experts on the morning talk shows were saying that this is a dangerous sign that the jihadis are taking to a new tactic. I'd suggest a slightly different interpretation may be in order. The jihadis are finding that they are less likely to be successful in mass casualty attacks involving explosives inside the UK because the British intel services have done a better job penetrating the Islamists and have a better handle on the sources of the raw materials necessary to build the explosives and related equipment.

This isn't a sign of expanding jihadi threat, but a last gasp to try and terrorize the British government into submission.

Curiously, the "Iraq-style" execution isn't exactly an Iraq-style execution, but rather an Islamist execution. It's done elsewhere by Islamists, not just in Iraq. Daniel Pearl was beheaded in gruesome fashion in a snuff film put out by his captors. He was murdered in Pakistan. Similar beheadings have occurred elsewhere, but the focus is on Iraq because that is where the jihadis have popped up.

The Washington Post has more.

UPDATE:
As if to underscore the point that the use of beheadings isn't restricted to Iraq, the Saudi government beheaded a drug trafficker today. Beheading is the common form of capital punishment in the Islamic world. It is also the reason why the jihadis will resort to beheading their captives, because they believe that they are passing judgment on those captives.

UPDATE:
The Jawa Report and Hot Air have more coverage. Rusty at the Jawa Report notes that this isn't the first time that Birmingham Muslims have sought to do harm to British soldiers.

UPDATE:
A total of nine people have been arrested.

Earlier BBC Home Affairs Correspondent Daniel Sandford said sources close to the investigation said the aim of the alleged plot was to kidnap a serving member of the armed forces, perhaps while they were on home leave.

He stressed the arrests were based on intelligence, which could prove to be wrong.

The Ministry of Defence said it could not confirm or deny reports of such a plot.

Two houses and a general store in Alum Rock, near Washwood Heath, were raided.

The Maktabah book store in Stratford Road, Sparkhill, which is believed to sell Islamic literature, was also raided.

One of the locations raided is the Maktabah bookstore in Birmingham. Seems that there are some connections to jihadi literature, including 'exclusive Osama video'. That doesn't mean that they're jihadis themselves, but style themselves as hangers' on and cater to the jihadi fan-boy audience. The exact status of those involved will be determined as the investigations continue, but if they have access to exclusive videos, that would suggest close contacts and would appear to eliminate the possibility that the bookstore merely provide al Qaeda's fans with a fix.