Gazeta Lodz - Two Latvians arrested inside UK military base: police

The incident comes days after an incident near another military base in southwest England.

Counter-terrorism police said the two men, aged 36 and 32, were arrested at the Royal Air Force (RAF) Molesworth base in Cambridgeshire, southeast England.

They are being held on suspicion of trespass, criminal damage and suspicion of entering a prohibited place "for a purpose prejudicial to the UK", said police.

Both are Latvian nationals residing in the UK.

The arrests come after a major incident at RAF Fairford on September 27 that led to the arrest of seven men, all in their 20s. They have since been released on bail. One is a dual UK-Iranian national.

Following that incident -- in which UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham said there were "strong indications" of Iranian involvement -- the United States withdrew its B-1 bombers stationed at the Fairford base.

"At this stage there is nothing to suggest this incident is connected to the events at RAF Fairford last week," said counter-terrorism policing head Helen Flanagan.

But the authorities were "keeping an open mind", she added in a statement.

- Intelligence hubs -

RAF Molesworth, formerly a World War II airbase, is now a non-flying facility managed by the US Air Force.

It also hosts the NATO Intelligence Fusion Centre, whose website says it has a workforce of more than 200; and Washington's Europe and Africa intelligence operations, according to the CIA website.

Police said a security patrol had spotted an abandoned vehicle near the Molesworth base and police found a "small breach" before arresting the men in the early hours of Thursday.

A US European Command spokesman said they were "aware of the reports", declining to "discuss specific force protection measures".

Concerns have been raised about the security of military bases following incidents at multiple facilities.

"We remain highly vigilant to potential threats against defence sites and work closely with the police and our allies to keep them secure," the UK's Ministry of Defence (MoD) said in a statement.

The nature of the threat at RAF Fairford is still not clear but police were called to the site after three white vans were spotted acting "suspiciously" in its vicinity.

A bomb disposal unit was deployed and a nearby village evacuated, but police found no explosives at the scene.

Last June, pro-Palestinian activists broke into another airbase, RAF Brize Norton in southern England, posting a video showing them spraying planes with red paint.

video-am-aks/jkb/jj

E.Wlodarczyk--GL