THREE men have been charged with terrorism offences after planned warrants and cordons were implemented at four addresses.

Last week, cordons were installed at addresses in Hindley, Abram, Bolton, and Great Lever as counter terrorism enquiries were carried out.

Three men were arrested and taken into custody, and Greater Manchester Police has now confirmed that they have been charged.

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On Monday, May 13, the Crown Prosecution Service authorised the charges of Walid Saadaoui, 36, of Crankwood Road, Abram, has been charged with preparation of terrorist acts, contrary to section 5(1)(b) of the Terrorism Act 2006.

Amar Hussein, 50, of no fixed address, has also been charged with the preparation of terrorist acts.

Bilel Saadaoui, 35, of Fairclough Street, Hindley, has also been charged with failure to disclose information about an act of terrorism.

All three have been remanded to appear before Westminster Magistrates Court on Tuesday, May 14.

Cordons had been put in place at four addresses in Wigan and Bolton over the past week, with local officers patrolling the affected areas.  These scenes have now been lifted.

Speaking previously about the arrests and investigation, Assistant Chief Constable Rob Potts, who holds responsibility for counter terrorism policing in the north west, said: “We have executed a number of planned warrants as part of an ongoing counter terrorism investigation.

“Three men have been taken into custody for questioning and scenes remain in place as we conduct further enquiries.

“[The] activity has been the culmination of much detailed planning and we have put measures in place to minimise disruption to local residents as much as possible.

“I understand that any time arrests of this nature are made it will cause concerns and people will naturally have questions.

“Although we can’t go into specific details of the investigation at this stage, I want to reassure members of the public that we do not currently believe there to be any wider threat linked to [the] activity.

“Further detail will be released where appropriate as the investigation progresses.”