UK police arrest two men over Texas siege

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)