Trump raises Iran link after UK releases five suspects in alleged airbase plot
British counter-terrorism police said the men, all British nationals aged between 23 and 25 from the London area, would remain under investigation despite their release.
US President Donald Trump has criticised Britain’s decision to release on bail five men arrested over an alleged plot to attack RAF Fairford, a UK airbase used by the US military, saying he “would not have released” them. The five men were arrested early Sunday near the base in western England after a local farmer reported seeing three large white vans and a group of “hooded and masked men” running into a nearby field. Taylor later said investigators were examining the incident from “every possible angle”, including whether offences had been committed “by proxies or individuals either knowingly or unknowingly working on behalf of a foreign state.
Armed officers from Gloucestershire Police arrested the men in the Whelford area, about a mile from RAF Fairford. They were initially detained on suspicion of offences under the Explosives Act before counter-terrorism police took over the investigation and arrested them on suspicion of preparing a terrorist act. Police are continuing to investigate the circumstances surrounding the arrests and the possibility of foreign-state involvement. The release of the five men on bail does not indicate that the investigation has ended.