The Associated Press

Fri, Aug 22, 2008 (4:57 p.m.)

Three terrorism suspects arrested in northern England earlier this month were detained in connection with an Internet threat against Prime Minister Gordon Brown, British media reported Friday.

British Broadcasting Corp. said the three men were being held in connection with a Web posting signed "al-Qaida in Britain" that threatened the life of Brown and his predecessor as prime minister, Tony Blair.

The statement, posted on a radical Web site earlier this year, demanded the withdrawal of British troops from Iraq and Afghanistan and the release of some Muslim prison inmates.

Britain's Press Association news agency quoted unidentified police officials as confirming the BBC report. The BBC did not explain the suspects' alleged connection to the Internet posting.

Lancashire police in northern England were not immediately available for comment, while Brown's office and the Home Office declined comment.

The three men were arrested Aug. 14, two of them at Manchester Airport, about 190 miles north of London, and the third in the town of Accrington.