London:
British police arrested two men on Thursday for their alleged role in a hostage-taking by a British man at a Texas synagogue last weekend.
The men were arrested by counter-terrorism agents in Birmingham in central England and in Manchester in the north west of England on Thursday morning, Greater Manchester police said in a tweet.
The men are being questioned in custody by Counter Terrorism Policing North West.
Malik Faisal Akram, 44, was shot dead on Saturday during a 10-hour siege from Blackburn in the northwest of England. The four hostages, including a rabbi, were all freed unharmed.
According to media reports, Akram was under investigation in 2020 by Britain’s Homeland Security Agency MI5, which closed the investigation after just over a month due to lack of evidence that he posed a threat.
According to reports, the hostage-taker asked for the release of Aafia Siddiqui, a Pakistani neuroscientist known as “Lady Al-Qaeda,” whose detention has been a celebre for jihadists.
British police arrested two teenagers on Sunday and searched a home in Manchester, about 34 kilometers from Blackburn, in connection with the siege, but released them without charge.
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