Man arrested under Terrorism Act in Birmingham

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http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKTRE60P1P920100126

LONDON (Reuters) - A 30-year-old man was arrested by counter-terrorism police in the West Midlands on Tuesday.

Police said the suspect was detained under the Terrorism Act on suspicion of "possessing material likely to be of use to a terrorist and of distributing terrorist publications."

The man's home in the Sparkhill area of Birmingham and one other property in the suburb of Kings Heath were being searched. Police took away computer equipment for forensic analysis.

"This arrest comes as a result of a long, detailed and ongoing enquiry," said Detective Superintendent Kenny Bell, head of West Midlands Police Counter Terrorism Unit.

"The operation was carried out by unarmed officers in a way intended to cause the minimum amount of disruption for those in the immediate vicinity."

Britain, which this week hosts major international meetings on how to deal with militancy in Afghanistan and Yemen, raised its terrorism threat level to "severe" on Friday.

The decision means security services now consider an attack in Britain to be "highly likely" but the government said it had no information to suggest an attack was imminent.

(Reporting by Kylie MacLellan)