British police headed off a possible terrorist attack before Christmas, arresting an Algerian who was apparently preparing himself for a suicide bombing: UK Police Arrest Man in Suicide Bomb Plan.

LONDON (Reuters) - British police arrested a man before Christmas who was suspected of preparing himself for a suicide bombing and who had links to al Qaeda, the Sunday Times newspaper said.

The paper, which did not give a source, said the man in his late twenties was arrested after leaving notes to his family saying he planned to “martyr” himself. The paper said he was an Algerian asylum seeker.

The man had also shaved off all his body hair — a religious act often observed by would-be suicide bombers so that they are “clean” before entering heaven, the paper said.

“I hope you treat me as a hero and a martyr,” the man wrote to his sister and mother.