A British woman has been arrested for alleged terror offences on 16th Jan, amid fears she was trying to fly out of the UK to support jihadists in Syria.
The 26-year-old was one of two women arrested by counter-terrorism police after she was stopped at Heathrow airport with a “large quantity of cash”.
The second woman, a 27-year-old, was arrested several hours later at an address in London.
The 26-year-old was held at 9.20am as she prepared to fly to Istanbul in Turkey.
Police are investigating whether her journey is linked to the Syrian conflict and whether she planned cross over the border herself to allegedly join jihadists or was taking money out to support others.
The second woman was arrested at a property in north west London just before 2.30pm and taken to a London police station.
Both women were held on suspicion of the commission, preparation and instigation of acts of terrorism under the Terrorism Act 2000.
They are both British but not part of the same family.
A Metropolitan Police spokeswoman said the arrests followed an intelligence led operation and were in response to any immediate threat or risk.
Detectives were searching two addresses in north and north-west London.
If the activities are confirmed to be linked to the Syria conflict it would be the first time British women have been publicly arrested in connection to it.
Last month, the Daily Telegraph disclosed that more than 300 Britons are believed to be fighting with jihadist groups in Syria.
Intelligence sources said that Britons make up the largest contingent out of about 1,000 Westerners fighting with Islamist groups against the regime of Bashar al – Assad.
By Tom Whitehead
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