Terror suspect held at UK airport arriving from Dubai receives bail

The 22-year-old man spent 36 hours in custody after being arrested under the UK's Terrorism Act at Birmingham International Airport on Monday after arriving on an Emirates flight.

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LONDON // A Pakistani student arrested at a British airport as a terrorism suspect after arriving on a flight from Dubai was released yesterday on bail.

The 22-year-old man spent 36 hours in custody after being arrested under the UK's Terrorism Act at Birmingham International Airport on Monday after arriving on an Emirates flight.

Police sources said the student was returning to Britain from his home in Pakistan to resume his studies when he was searched in a routine "port stop" by immigration officials. A suspicious document was discovered, details of which were not released by the police.

A spokesman for West Midlands Police said the man was arrested "on suspicion of being in possession of a document likely to be of use to a person committing a terrorist offence".

About 17 per cent of Birmingham's population of almost one million are Muslim and the city has seen a string of terrorism-related arrests.

In September, eight people were arrested after a surveillance operation and three of them, now in custody, are awaiting trial on charges of planning a suicide-bombing campaign in Britain.

In November, four men were arrested in the city and accused of raising funds for terrorism and travelling to Pakistan for terrorist training.