Two South Africans plotting attacks in their country, a senior Pakistani security officer and two men in the Federal Bureau of Investigation's most wanted list are among those detained during combing operations in various countries following the 'increased threat perception' of terrorist attacks.

The Wall Street Journal said the arrests led to a series of raids on Tuesday in Britain in which police arrested 13 Asian men.

The paper quoting an unnamed senior Pakistani intelligence official said the raids were linked to information from Pakistan.

One of the big arrests in Pakistan is that of an Egyptian national who was a member of an Al Qaeda cell known as Islambouli group.

The group was responsible for the bid on Pakistan Prime Minister-designate Shaukat Aziz's life last week.

Pakistani intelligence agencies and the FBI have widened their net after information gathered from the interrogation of the recently captured Tanzanian terrorist suspect Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani and Muhammed Naeem Noor Khan. Noor Khan, said intelligence operatives, was a computer expert and lead planner for Al Qaeda's terrorist operations.

Ghailani faces murder charges in connection with the 1998 bombings of US embassies in East Africa.

Agencies