-Caveat Lector- http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/24/international/europe/24TERR.ht ml?pagewanted=2&todaysheadlines
January 24, 2003 Plot to Poison Food of British Troops Is Suspected By JAMES RISEN with DON VAN NATTA Jr. WASHINGTON, Jan. 23 � Islamic militants arrested in Britain this month may have been plotting to lace the food supply on at least one British military base with the poison ricin, according to American government officials. The revelations raised concerns in Britain and the United States about the security of allied forces as war preparations continue. American officials said they had received intelligence reports showing that the British authorities suspect that a group of militants arrested there in a series of raids may have been trying to gain access to the food supply on at least one military base in the United Kingdom. British officials found traces of ricin in a London apartment where the first arrests were made in the case. "It's a very live theory," said one American law enforcement official familiar with the information from the British. American officials said the reports showed that one of the suspects worked for a food preparation company and had been in contact with individuals who worked on at least one British military base. The United States officials said they did not know the identity of the suspect. They said they also did not know which British military base or bases might have been targets of the plot. Officials cautioned that the assessment is a working theory among British investigators, and that conclusive evidence had not yet been obtained. "There are some investigators who believe the ricin was being developed to poison British troops," an American official said. "But we still have found no direct evidence between the ricin discovery and that kind of plot." A spokesman for the British Home Office declined to comment on the reports. But the potential threat has clearly heightened concern in Britain, where Prime Minister Tony Blair recently ordered an increase in the number of troops being deployed to the Middle East in preparation to join the United States if it uses force against Iraq. Pentagon officials also said they had ongoing fears about the potential for terrorists to attack the food and water supplies at American bases. They said they had been taking precautions to protect American troops being deployed in the Persian Gulf region and elsewhere overseas. Few details of the British investigation have so far been made public, but the possibility that the plotters were planning to poison British troops helps to explain why the British authorities have been moving so aggressively on the case in recent weeks. On Jan. 5, the British antiterrorist police found traces of ricin in a north London apartment. Six men were arrested on various terrorism-related charges. Some of the men were described as Algerians, but none have been identified publicly. Ricin is derived from the castor bean, the same plant used to make laxatives and castor oil. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, the poison can exist in pellet form, mist or powder, and can dissolve in a liquid. The poison can be inhaled, injected or ingested, though studies have shown that ingestion causes the most damage with the least amount of ricin. When ingested, ricin causes severe and rapid bleeding to the stomach and intestines. If the poison gets into the bloodstream, it can attack the liver, kidneys and spleen, often leading to death. The initial discovery of traces of ricin led to an intensified series of arrests after the first raid. On Jan. 14, during a raid in Manchester, England, that was linked by the authorities to the ricin discovery, at least one suspect fatally stabbed a British policeman and wounded four other antiterrorist officers. Three men, described as being of North African descent, were arrested. Shortly after midnight on Monday, a team of 150 police officers used battering rams in a raid on a mosque in the Finsbury Park section of London, where seven men were arrested. The mosque has long been suspected by the authorities in the United States and Britain as having connections to the Qaeda terror network. In the raid, the police seized a stun gun, a weapon that fires blanks and a gas canister. The authorities also said they had found a number of forged passports and hundreds of other documents related to forging identities. Of the seven men who were arrested, six, ranging in ages from 23 to 48, are from North Africa, and another, 22, is from Eastern Europe, the authorities said. A spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police Service in London said a 31-year-old North African man was also arrested in northeast London on Wednesday and is being held under Britain's Terrorism Act. In addition to the raids that have been publicized, law enforcement officials briefed on the continuing investigation said the British antiterrorist police have conducted about 10 secret searches of homes and apartments connected to the inquiry in the past several weeks. British authorities have not publicly linked the suspects to Al Qaeda, but one government official in London said there was evidence of significant links between the men and the terrorist network established by Osama bin Laden. That official said that at least one of the men in custody was trained at a Qaeda training camp in Afghanistan. Several London newspapers this week reported that one of the Algerians was regarded as a key player in the Qaeda network, and had been sought for months by Scotland Yard. A senior American government official confirmed that officials believed some of the men arrested at the mosque had strong Qaeda links, but the official cautioned that they may also be connected to a militant Algerian organization. Since the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001, more than 280 terrorism suspects have been arrested in Britain. The authorities have said that most of the detained men were of North African descent, and that there were dozens of Algerians among them. Within the last year, militant Muslims in England have warned that British military and government officials would be targets of terrorist attacks. In an interview in January 2002 with the BBC, Hassan Butt, a 22-year-old native of Manchester who was living in Pakistan, predicted that a "new phase" of terrorism would be conducted against Britain, saying the targets would be "British military and government institutes, as well as British military and government individuals." On Tuesday, Mr. Blair said the most recent arrests at the mosque demonstrated that the level of terrorist activity had increased in recent months. In November, he said there was a dramatic increase in intelligence reports indicating that terrorists were plotting a spectacular attack. "Supposing they were able to kill instead of 3,000 people, 30,000 people," Mr. Blair said. "Does anyone doubt that they would do it?" Copyright 2003 The New York Times Company | Permissions | Privacy Policy -- Outgoing mail is certified virus free Scanned by Norton AntiVirus <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance�not soap-boxing�please! 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