York Guides

Police on Friday searched a house in Leeds where two of the suicide bombers responsible for the July 7 terrorism attacks in London are said to have lived.

No arrests had been made or explosives found during in the search on the house in the Beeston area, which was carried out using warrants issued under the Terrorism Act. A representative for the police said the search was continuing.

In separate raids carried out early on Thursday morning, seven foreign nationals had been were detained and are now facing deportation after being held under the Immigration Act 1971.

Of those detained after dawn raids in London and Manchester, six were transferred to Long Lartin prison in Evesham, Worcestershire, while the seventh was being held at Full Sutton prison in Pocklington, near York.

The Home Office said that the unidentified seven had been detained, pending deportation on the grounds that the home secretary considered their continued presence in the UK "not conducive to the public good for reasons of national security".

Liberty, the human rights campaign group, said it was concerned that the majority of those detained might by Algerian and therefore likely to be deported to their country of origin, which tortures political dissidents. Similar immigration powers were used by the government last month to detain another 10 foreign nationals, including Abu Qatada, the outspoken Jordanian cleric. The Home Office recently signed a memorandum of understanding with Jordan seeking guarantees that whoever was deported to that country was not mistreated or sentenced to death.

Officials say that ministers are close to securing a similar deal with Algeria. Human rights groups have condemned such deals, saying they are not worth the paper they are written on.