BRITISH police on Thursday (20) arrested two men over their alleged role in a hostage-taking by a UK national at a synagogue in Texas last weekend.
They were arrested in Birmingham and Manchester by counter-terrorism officers, Greater Manchester Police said in a tweet.
The men are being questioned in custody by Counter Terrorism Policing North West.
A man from Blackburn in northwestern England, Malik Faisal Akram, was shot dead during a 10-hour siege on Saturday (15). The four hostages including a rabbi were all freed unharmed.
Media reports said Akram was investigated in 2020 by Britain's domestic security agency MI5, which shut down the probe after a little over a month due to a lack of evidence that he was a threat.
Reports say Akram, 44, was seeking the release of Aafia Siddiqui, a Pakistani neuroscientist known as "Lady Al-Qaeda," whose detention has been a cause celebre for jihadists.
UK police on Sunday (17) arrested two teenagers and searched a property in Manchester in connection with the siege but released them without charge.
(AFP)
UK police arrest two men over Texas siege
Prime minister Keir Starmer talks with local residents as he visits a housing development on June 19, 2026 in London, England. (Photo by Peter Macdiarmid -WPA Pool/Getty Images)
