A man with suspected links to al-Qaeda was questioned in Belfast today bydetectives investigating possible terrorist plots in the United Kingdom.
He is of North African origin and may also be associated with other Islamicand Middle Eastern terrorist organisations, sources said.
The man was detained in Belfast and police revealed today they had asked amagistrate to give them further time for him to be interviewed.
A spokesman for the Police Service of Northern Ireland confirmed: "A man isbeing questioned about serious crime and of possessing information likely to beof use to terrorists."
Details about how and exactly when and where the man was arrested have not been released, but it is understood that police officers in Northern Ireland had been acting on "good intelligence" when they moved in to detain him.
Security services in Britain were immediately alerted after information allegedly found in his possession was examined.
Detectives believe he had been living in Belfast for some time, but it was not known if he had been in England at any stage.
It is understood the man, an Algerian, was arrested in Belfast on Monday night. He had been under surveillance.
He was then taken for questioning to Antrim, but was now at Gough Barracks. Armagh city, where he can he held for up to another 72 hours.
It was a judge and not a magistrate as previously reported, who granted detectives additional time to question the man.