Terror suspects got British guard licenses

MANCHESTER, England, Dec. 13 (UPI) -- Ten Pakistani students suspected of terror links who obtained security clearances to work as guards showed flaws in Britain's vetting system, critics say.

Despite promises by government ministers to tighten up a system for checking the backgrounds of foreign nationals applying for sensitive security posts, 10 members of a suspected Islamist terror cell in Manchester had obtained permission by the British Home Office to work as security guards, The Sunday Times of London reported.

The newspaper said the students -- who were arrested but never charged in an alleged Easter plot to bomb two Manchester shopping centers and a nightclub -- had, in the months before their arrests, obtained licenses from the Security Industry Authority to work as security guards.

Two years ago the SIA came under fire for allowing more than 7,000 illegal immigrants to work as security guards. The episode brought promises of reform, and the latest case has reportedly prompted Conservative Party shadow Home Secretary Chris Greyling to demand an explanation from the government.

"The fact that security checks on overseas nationals seeking clearance for the security industry are much more lax than for British people just beggars belief," The Sunday Times quoted Greyling as writing.