All stops out in UK's biggest anti-terrorist operation.

(From Canberra Times)

I T WAS in February that eight young British citizens living in and around London first became the focus of what would turn into MI5's biggest operation against suspected el- Qaeda terrorists.

Over the next six weeks the full force of Britain's intelligence capabilities were used against the suspects, all of whom are of Pakistani descent, to track them, eavesdrop their conversations, bug their phones, and follow their every move.

The security service was first alerted to the suspected cells of Islamic extremists after intercepting one of the group's telephone conversations.

As the operation snowballed more and more officers from MI5, Scotland Yard's Anti-Terrorist Branch, and the listening centre at GCHQ in Cheltenham, joined the investigation.

The inquiry came to a head on Tuesday in a series of coordinated early-morning raids involving about 700 police officers.

The target of the operation were eight men, aged 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 21, 22 and 32, and a warehouse in west London.