Terror plotters' bank accounts frozen

BRITAIN: The Bank of England, Britain's central bank, said Friday it had frozen the accounts of 19 of the 24 men arrested in a alleged terror plot, and publicly released their names.

"The Bank of England ... has today directed that any funds held for or on behalf of the (19) individuals ... must be frozen, and that no funds should be made available, directly or indirectly to any person, except under the authority of a licence," the bank said in a statement.

"Financial institutions and other persons are requested to check whether they maintain any accounts or otherwise hold any funds, other financial assets, economic benefits and economic resources for the individuals named in the Annex and, if so, they should freeze the accounts or other funds and report their findings to the Bank of England."

Some 24 men were arrested on Thursday in raids after Britain said it had thwarted a plot to wreak "mass murder" by simultaneous mid-air bombings of commercial airliners travelling to the United States.

The 19 men named by the Bank of England were Ahmed Abdula Ali, Cossor Ali, Khuram Shazad Ali, Nabeel Hussain, Tanvir Hussain, Umair Hussain, Umar Islam, Wassem Kayani, Abdullah Assan Khan, Arafat Waheed Khan, Adam Osman Khatib, Muneem Abdul Patel, Tayib Rauf, Usman Muhammed Saddique, Assad Sarwar, Ibrahim Savant, Asmin Amin Tariq, Mohammed Shamin Uddin, and Waheed Zaman.

London, Friday, AFP