The latest from The Telegraph on the arrests in London yesterday.
Four people were arrested in London yesterday over an alleged terror attack on the publisher of a controversial book on the prophet Muhammad.
The arrests are connected to a fire at a property in Islington, north London, which is used as the home and office of Martin Rynja, a publisher.
His company, Gibson Square, recently bought the rights to a novel which is considered by some to be more controversial than Salman Rushdie's book, The Satanic Verses. The new book, about the prophet Muhammad and his child bride, is entitled The Jewel of Medina.
The blaze yesterday, which led to people being evacuated from the house, may have been started by a petrol bomb pushed through the letter box.
Initially, three men, aged 22, 30 and 40, were detained at around 2.25am yesterday after a fire broke out at a property in Lonsdale Square, Islington. Two were stopped by armed officers in Lonsdale Square, and the third was seized when a car was stopped by armed police near Angel underground station.
Gibson Square, which has previously published other controversial books, bought the rights to Jones's book after Random House pulled out. Speaking before yesterday's attack, Mr Rynja said: "In an open society there has to be open access to literary works, regardless of fear. As an independent publishing company, we feel strongly that we should not be afraid of the consequences of debate.
"If a novel of quality and skill (that’s debatable) that casts light on a beautiful subject (paedophila) we know too little of in the West, but have a genuine interest in, cannot be published here, it would truly mean that the clock has been turned back to the dark ages. The Jewel of Medina has become an important barometer of our time."
He said that he hoped that once people read the novel in its entirety there would be a "healthy discussion" about its content. Which is as it should be. It will raise consciousness as to how flawed Mohammed is as an example to follow.
Police also searched four addresses around north-east London yesterday - two in Walthamstow, one in Ilford and one in Forest Gate. Hear we go again – streets I will know but no longer recognise.
The men, who were arrested on suspicion of the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism, were being questioned at a central London police station.
Later yesterday a fourth person, a woman, was arrested at a property in Ilford for allegedly obstructing the police, a spokesman for Scotland Yard said.
The police confirmed that there had been small fire inside the property in Lonsdale Square, which had to be put out. "At this early stage it is being linked with the arrests," the spokesman added.
Residents in Lonsdale Square said armed police, assisted by fire-fighters, broke down the door to the targeted property at around 2.30 yesterday morning.