Report: London Group Foiled in Trying to Acquire Toxic Chemical

TBO.COM ^

[Sub-Driver]

Report: London Group Foiled in Trying to Acquire Toxic Chemical The Associated Press

LONDON (AP) - Police were alerted to a potential terrorist plot after a London-based group tried to buy half a ton of toxic chemicals from a biosciences company, a British newspaper reported Saturday. The Financial Times said Amersham Biosciences informed authorities when it received an order for 1,100 lbs of saponin - a type of natural detergent derived from plants - in the fall of 2002.

Saponin can be used to enhance the transmission of molecules through biological cell membranes, and the newspaper quoted experts as saying it could have been combined with a potent toxin such as ricin and smeared in public places in a bid to cause mass poisoning.

London's Metropolitan Police would not comment on the report, and Amersham could not immediately be reached for comment.

The Financial Times said the order came from a firm with a London post office box address. The newspaper quoted Lennart Arlinger, Amersham's business development director, as saying staff became suspicious because of the large quantity ordered. Further research showed the group trying to buy the goods was funded by the "Islamic community," he said.

The company informed police in Britain and Sweden, where the order was handled, the newspaper said.

Saponins, which can be toxic in high doses, are a family of natural detergents with a variety of uses in industry and medicine. Digitalis, which is used to treat heart disease, is a saponin derived from the foxglove plant.

Early this year, several men were arrested and accused of plotting to produce a chemical weapon after police discovered traces of ricin - a highly toxic poison extracted from castor beans - in a north London apartment.

[friendly]

Busy, busy, busy... the IslamoFascists forever working quietly unseen. I wager that less than 0.01% of the population is waware of this typical al Queda activity, thanks to the IslamoFascist's new best friends, the democrat party controlled media.

[Broadside Joe]

Sounds like Ansar Al Islam via AQ. But we all know that there isn't any connection. /sarcasm

[genefromjersey]

Broadside, there are probably hundred of these Muslim militant groups: some funded by the Shi'ites in Iran, some
by the Sunnis in Saudia Arabia, and some funded by the Ba'athist regimes in Syria, Algeria, etc.

Al-Qaeda is a virtual "johnny-come-lately" in this viper pit. It is based on LET - a mostly Pakistani group, which works hand-in-hand with Abu Sayyaf,Jemaah Islamiah,Ansar-el Islam, etc.

Which set of vipers is worse: the Shi'ites or the Sunnis ?

Sort of like choosing between a cobra and a mamba !

[JustPiper]

ping!