Britain’s Top Antiterror Officer Resigns Over Slip-Up

LONDON -- Britain’s most powerful counterterrorism officer resigned on Thursday, a day after being photographed carrying a document that outlined details of a major antiterrorism operation in northwest England and was clearly marked “Secret.”

Twelve people are being questioned on suspicion of terrorist-related activities, the police said. The BBC reported that 10 of the people are Pakistanis in Britain on student visas, and that one is a British-born national.

The operation had been planned for the middle of the night but had to be carried out hours earlier, during the day, as a result of the impromptu disclosure. A number of the arrests were carried out at John Moores University, in Liverpool, in full view of other students.

The document contained names of antiterrorism officers and details about terrorist threats abroad, among other sensitive details, and was clearly visible to photographers with telephoto lenses. On Wednesday night, a judge barred the news media from revealing its contents.