Pakistan arrests helped shed light on plot, officials say

Intelligence officials in Pakistan say twoBritons arrested last week in that country helped provide information on an alleged plot to blow up commercial flights from the United Kingdom to the United States.

The arrests were reportedly made in the cities of Lahore and Karachi, the officials said in a report published in a British newspaper on Friday.

Pakistan officials alleged that one of the arrested Britons, Rashid Rauf, has ties with the al-Qaeda network.

In addition to the two Britons, five other people were arrested, officials said. The five were said to be arrested on suspicion that they served as local "facilitators" for the two Britons, an official said.

The Guardian newspaper in Britain said that after those arrests were made, a message was sent from Pakistan to Britain telling the alleged plotters: "Do your attacks now."

The message was intercepted and decoded earlier this week, The Guardian said.

American and Britishcounterterrorism officialssaid that they had been planning to break up alleged terrorist cells in the next few days, but the officials said they were forced to move earlier to prevent huge loss of life.

As well, Pakistani intelligence officials also confirmed that one other suspect had been arrested in the city of Faisalabad, and that the arrest took place four or five days ago.

The officials did not give any further information in that arrest, including the suspect's nationality.