Friday, August 11 2006 16:19 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Islamabad: A Pakistani security official has claimed that Pakistani intelligence agencies helped British authorities foil the terror plot unearthed in Britain.

The Pakistani security official, who was not named, was quoted by The News as saying, "The actions that have been taken in London were made possible only with the close cooperation between Pakistani and British intelligence," the official said.

"Pakistani intelligence cooperated and provided vital information that led to these actions. They conducted an operation here which provided leads to London police about the plan to bomb the airliners," the official said, but gave no details about the operation.

Pakistan says it has been coordinating with the British and the American agencies since 9/11, when it became evident that many Pakistani nationals and those of Pakistani origin were involved in acts of terror in different parts of the world and had received training in Pakistan, Pakistan-administered Kashmir or camps in Afghanistan.

On Thursday, Foreign Office spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam confirmed "there were some arrests in Pakistan, which were coordinated with the arrests in Britain".

"Pakistan played a very important role in uncovering and breaking this international terrorist network," Aslam claimed, adding that cooperation between the various intelligence agencies had been spread over a period of time.

Aslam, however, did not elaborate on the detentions made at the Pakistan end.