Five people, believed to be associated with a dissident republican group, who were arrested on Friday in a joint operation by the Metropolitan Police and antiterrorist officers, were still being questioned at police stations in London last night. Scotland Yard confirmed six "primed" incendiary devices had been discovered during the arrest.
A sixth suspect, a woman, who was arrested during the operation on Friday, was released without charge yesterday. The six people, four men and two women, were arrested in the centre of London following a prolonged surveillance operation by MI5 with information provided by the Garda.
The five who remain in custody are being held under the Prevention of Terrorism Act, which means they can be detained for seven days without charge.
Meanwhile, gardai said files have been sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions on three people arrested in Dundalk and Dublin on Friday afternoon as part of a co-ordinated swoop involving the Garda and British anti-terrorist police.
A man arrested in Wexford in the same operation was released without charge yesterday.
A spokesman for Scotland Yard said yesterday the incendiary devices, which were ready to be used "within minutes", were found as armed officers moved to make their arrests on three of the men in central London.
Police believe their targets were the main shopping areas in London around Oxford Street and Tottenham Court Road and that the attempt was to attack property during the busy rush hour.
During the operation to arrest the six on Friday night, police sealed off a large section of Oxford Street and Tottenham Court Road. A controlled explosion of one of the devices was reported to have taken place close to Chancery Lane Underground station nearby, and one witness described how police officers "appeared from nowhere" to arrest one of the men as he stood at a cash-point in Gower Street.
About an hour later, a man and a woman were pulled out of their Vauxhall Astra car near the British Library in Euston by armed officers. They were taken to a nearby police station.
Three of the men, are believed to be students who had travelled to London to work for the summer. Two of the men are believed to be students at University College Dublin while the third is thought to be a student at Queen's University in Belfast.