The five work as street cleaners.
View full sizeFive London men were being held over a threat to Pope Benedict XVI Friday.LONDON (AP) — British police arrested five London street cleaners over an alleged threat to Pope Benedict XVI on Friday, the second day of a papal trip to Britain that has brought both a warm welcome from Catholics and renewed anger over the clerical sex abuse scandal.
The Vatican said the pope was calm despite the pre-dawn arrests and planned no changes to his schedule.
Acting on a tip, police detained the men, aged 26 to 50, under the Terrorism Act at a business in central London. They are being questioned at a London police station and have not been charged. Police said an initial search of that business and other related properties had not uncovered any hazardous items.
Westminster Council said the suspects worked as street cleaners for a contractor on its behalf.
Police said they received information about a potential threat against the pope overnight, prompting the armed operation to arrest the men early Friday.
Police declined to say whether the men were British or give details of their ethnicity, but there was no indication that it was a threat involving national security. Protesters and activists have previously been arrested under the country's terrorism laws during high-profile events such as economic summits and state visits.
The pope's visit has divided opinion in officially Protestant, highly secular Britain. The trip has been overshadowed by disgust over the Catholic Church's clerical abuse scandal and opposition from secularists and those opposed to the church's stances against homosexuality and using condoms to fight AIDS.
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