The nine men, aged between 19 and 28, are among 12 people arrested by police after they searched properties in three cities. Three of the men were released with no charges being filed.

Three of the men facing charges are from Cardiff, Wales; two are from London; and four are from the city Stoke-on-Trent, in the Midlands about 135 miles northwest of London.

The charges relate to alleged activities in October and November.

"I have advised the police that nine men should be charged with conspiracy to cause explosions and with engaging in conduct in preparation for acts of terrorism with the intention of either committing acts of terrorism, or assisting another to commit such acts," said Sue Hemming, head of the Crown Prosecution Service Counter Terrorism Division.

"Lawyers from the CPS Counter Terrorism Division have been working with the police on this case from an early stage and were on hand to give advice while the men were interviewed."

The U.K. arrests come after last week's arrest of 12 Somali men in the Netherlands on suspicion of involvement in terrorism. Dutch police, who said they suspect the men were planning an attack in the Netherlands, made the arrests after searching a shop and four houses in Rotterdam and two hotel rooms in another town. No weapons or explosives were found.

The men, aged between 19 and 48, were picked up after Dutch intelligence services believed an attack was imminent. Five of the men were released with no charges filed.

Britain's terrorism threat remains "severe," Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner John Yates said. The rating is the second highest threat level, meaning an attack is highly likely.

The arrests of the 12 men were the result of a "large-scale, pre-planned, intelligence-led" operation involving several forces. But Yates, head of counter-terrorism policing in Britain, gave few details of the operation when the men were arrested.

"What I would say is with the current threat level in the U.K. at severe and with the information we had, I believe today's arrests were absolutely necessary in order to keep the public safe," Yates said.

British intelligence services have been working with Swedish police since a suspected suicide bomber in Stockholm earlier this month was found to have had connections in Luton, 30 miles north of London.

Taimour Abdulwahab al-Abdaly, 28, was a naturalized Swedish citizen who had studied sports therapy at the University of Bedford, graduating in 2004. He lived in Luton with his wife, Mona Thwany, also called Umm Amira.

Thwany said she knew nothing of her husband's plans to become a suicide bomber.

Al-Abdaly was killed about 5 p.m. Dec. 11 while walking across an intersection in Stockholm city center. Authorities theorize al-Abdaly was carrying a bomb with the intention of setting it off in a crowded area but the device went off prematurely. No one else was injured in the blast.

Less than 15 minutes earlier, his Audi vehicle parked on a street exploded, injuring two people. Police said the car contained several canisters of propane.

The blasts were the first suicide incidents connected to radical Islamic terrorism in a Nordic country, Swedish media said.

In Luton, al-Abdaly had been asked to stop attending a local mosque three years ago because of his extremist views, chairman of the Luton Islamic Center Qadeer Baksh said.

"It was the general public, worshippers, that brought it to the committee's attention that there was someone in here teaching something that is alien to Islam -- extremist views," he said. "So I went and I faced him. I felt he was playing a game with me, just so he gets access to these worshipers."

del.icio.us	Digg	Reddit
YahooMyWeb	Google	Facebook

Memory Foam Mattress Review

SPACE MEDIA NETWORK PROMOTIONS Solar Energy Solutions Tempur-Pedic Mattress Comparison ... Newsletters :: SpaceDaily :: SpaceWar :: TerraDaily :: Energy Daily XML Feeds :: Space News :: Earth News :: War News :: Solar Energy News