Italian police make two arrests in probe into ‘Canary Wharf terror plot

From the London Evening Standard and The Telegraph

Two Afghan men were held in the southern Italian town of Bari as authorities issued warrants for three other suspects. Prosecutors said mobile phone data seized from the group included numerous photos of potential targets in Italy, Rome and London.

They are said to have included West India Quay, the Sunborn Yacht Hotel in Royal Victoria Dock, a luxury hotel inside a yacht, the South Quay footbridge to Canary Wharf, and an Ibis Hotel on Victoria Dock Road.

The suspects are also have alleged to have photographed a Premier Inn Hotel in Stratford, yards from the Westfield Shopping Centre and the Olympic Park.

Their alleged targets in Rome are said to have included the Colosseum and the Circus Maximus. 

The cell was also allegedly planning attacks on targets in France and Belgium but police revealed they are still searching for three other suspects involved in the same alleged plot.

The two men held were named as Hakim Nasiri, 23, and Gulistan Ahmadzai, 29. Nasiri was arrested on terrorism charges while Ahmadzai was detained on charges of aiding illegal immigration. The three other suspects named in the investigation are Qari Khestamire Ahmadzai, Surgul Ahmadzai and Zulfiqar Amjad.