Terror suspects in court

Police officers stormed a number of addresses

Four men arrested last week under anti-terror laws have appeared in court charged with receiving training or instruction in the making of firearms and explosives.

Arshad Farid, 26, Usman Choudhary, 23, Umar Ijaz, 24, and 26-year-old Madasser Al Hussan have each been charged with several offences under the Terrorism Act 2000.

The four were arrested in raids on Tuesday last week.

The men, two from the West Midlands, one from Luton and another from Birmingham, appeared before Halesowen Magistrates' Court on Tuesday.

The hearing lasted one and a half hours and the case was adjourned until 15 December. All four men were remanded in custody.

Wide-ranging act

A police spokesman said: "The Terrorism Act 2000 is wide-ranging and deals with offences of possessing material relating to terrorism through to causing an explosion.

"The charges against them relate to allegedly obtaining and possessing money to fund terrorism or possessing articles or material which provide instruction or training to make firearms or explosives."

The offences are alleged to have been committed "on or before December".

Meanwhile, four men arrested in London on suspicion of being involved in terrorism in an unconnected police operation have been released without charge.

The men, aged between 28 and 32, were arrested on 2 December under Section 41 of the Terrorism Act 2000.