London: Suspects in an alleged plot to blow up trans-Atlantic flights received a coded message from Pakistan to "attack now" as authorities there closed in on a suspected terror cell, security sources have told CNN.
As airport chaos triggered by the appararent plan to smuggle liquid explosives on board passenger jets began to subside, police were continuing to investigate possible links between the suspects arrested on Thursday and al-Qaeda operatives.
Authorities in Berlin also confirmed they were checking whether the suspects – 23 of whom remain in custody following the release of one man – had contact with operatives in Germany.
An US Department of Homeland Security memo said that a message was intercepted in the days before police made their arrests which advised the alleged plotters to 'do your attacks now."
A British official said that the "go ahead" message originated with an operative in Pakistan.
Government officials in both countries told CNN that during a trip to Pakistan, two of the suspects may have had contact with Matiur Rehman, a Pakistani explosives expert suspected of being an al-Qaeda operative.
Shortly after they returned to Britain, money was wired to them from Pakistan, the officials said.
Rehman, who remains at large, has not been linked to the plot, the officials said. He was not one of the seven individuals arrested last week in Pakistan.
US and British sources said one of the men in custody in Pakistan, Rashid Rauf, had a key operational role in the alleged plot.
Rauf, a British citizen, appeared before magistrate Saturday, according to Pakistan's Interior Ministry.
The US security memo also shed light on the backgrounds of the 23 suspects being held by British police:
All were born in Britain, and most were of Pakistani descent. They had good reputations in their neighborhood and did not express radical sentiments.
Among those arrested were a biochemistry student, a worker at Heathrow Airport and a 17-year-old who recently converted to Islam. While the teen had grown a beard and started wearing traditional Muslim clothes, he did not appear to be radicalized.
British police believe the key players are in custody but cannot be sure that "unknown or unexpected elements do not exist."
A tip from a member of the British Muslim community about suspicious behavior by an acquaintance alerted authorities to the alleged conspiracy, and a neighbor of the alleged plotters helped confirm those suspicions, the memo said.
Counterterrorism officials used telephone records, e-mails and bank records to connect the suspects and build a detailed picture of the conspiracy, the US Department of Homeland Security said.
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