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UK police arrest suspects seeking to procure dirty bomb materials
POLICE arrested four men in London under Britain's anti-terrorist law, as a newspaper claimed it had infiltrated a gang trying to buy radioactive material for a "dirty bomb". The Metropolitan Police said the four men - arrested under the Terrorism Act 2001 - had been taken into custody at a central London police station for further questioning. "Several addresses have been searched," a police spokesman said. "Some searches continue."All four men - whose names were not released - were detained under section 41 of the Terrorism Act, which refers to "the (suspected) commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism". The News of the World said it had co-operated with police after it infiltrated a gang that claimed to be looking for radioactive material on behalf of a Saudi described as sympathetic to "the Muslim cause". The Saudi, whose name was not disclosed, was reportedly willing to pay £300,000 (756,000) in cash for a kilogram of "highly powerful radioactive material" from Russia known as Red Mercury. I think we can guess who the ultimate buyer of this stuff was supposed to be ... The News of the World said the material was developed by Soviet scientists during the Cold War "for making briefcase nuclear bombs" that could kill everyone within a few city blocks. "It is very, very radioactive," a member of the gang was quoted as telling Mazher Mahmood, the News of the World's star investigative reporter, who posed as a Muslim extremist. "The guy (from Saudi Arabia) said it is used for making bombs. It'll either be for use here in the United Kingdom or in the United States," the gang member reportedly said. The gang allegedly consisted of a banker originally from Goa, India, his "sidekick" from Mozambique, and a Somalian formerly resident in Saudi Arabia, while the Saudi was said to have successfully applied for a visa to enter Britain. Police said three suspects were arrested at a hotel in the Brent Cross district of north London, while a fourth man was taken into custody at his north London home. The News of the World described elite anti-terrorist officers raiding a Holiday Inn at Brent Cross. Posted by: Dan Darling 2004-09-26 |
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