Pope Arrests: Five Street Cleaners Held Over Potential Threat To Benedict XVI, Sources Say
Armed counter-terror officers swooped on the central London agency to which they were registered in the early hours of the morning.
The suspects, who are aged 26, 27, 36, 40 and 50, are being held and questioned under the Terrorism Act 2000.
The firm where the arrests were made is now being searched, as well as homes in north and east London.
Sky News crime correspondent Martin Brunt said he understood the men were North Africans employed by the agency to work for Westminster City Council.
He said they had been about to start a day shift that would have included cleaning streets around the House of Commons, where the Pope is due to speak, when they were arrested.
Brunt said: “I was at a briefing last week around the whole issue of the Pope’s security and the point was made then that there was no known threat or intelligence to suggest a plot against the Pope.