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the US embassy and the Rome water system??

were they going to poison the whole city trying to kill the Pope maybe??

They want a Holy War, after all.

were they going to poison the whole city trying to kill the Pope maybe??

Makes sense (in the twisted logic of these terrorists). They wanted to kill the Pope years ago in the Philippines at the same time as they blew up 10 jets. The plan was thwarted.

They wanted to blow up the WTC, tried once and tried again until they did it.

I think their obsession is the same. They want to kill the Pope still and do it as part of a double whammy. This time the Pope and US Embassy at the same time.

...trying to kill the Pope?

As the Communists found out, don't get the Pope pissed off. While the Pope is old and fragile, he has the heart of a lion and the ear of a large number of people.

I suspect that carnivor and other communications monitoring programs are working overtime right now monitoring communications all over the world. The nice thing is that anytime four terrorists are found like this there are probably a number of more who are implicated by assoication and their terrorist financial system is even more compromised.

I just had a pleasant fantasy upon reading this article. I saw ( as if this or a future attempt had resulted in the deaths of thousands of Italians) the entire Italian army invading Iran after learning the Morocan terrs were financed through Iran. I saw an Italian draft. I saw the US backing them and sending 600,000 troops. Gee maybe this WWIII thing could work out after all.

They are called weapons of mass destruction. They kill the target and many others, including the attacker. Hence is the fine martial science of the 21st century, a blitzkrieg we do not understand.

Seems more likely they were going to try to poison the water supply of the American embassy.
I'd imagine they'd consider the Holy See to be acceptable collateral damage.

The b@st@rds!

were they going to poison the whole city trying to kill the Pope maybe??

They need a hell of a lot of cyanide to do this, an amount far greater than anyone would be able to carry.

Cyanide

Introduction

Cyanide is a substance that is found in combination with other chemicals in the environment. Of these combinations (compounds), the ones people are most likely to come in contact with are hydrogen cyanide, sodium cyanide, and potassium cyanide. Hydrogen cyanide is a colorless gas or liquid with a faint, bitter almond odor. Sodium cyanide and potassium cyanide are both colorless solids that have a slight odor of bitter almonds in damp air.

Cyanides are both man-made and naturally occurring substances. They are found in a number of foods and plants and are produced by certain bacteria, fungi, and algae. Very small amounts of cyanide, in the form of vitamin B12 (cyanocobalamin), are a necessary part of the human diet. Most of the cyanide found in the environment comes from industrial processes. Hydrogen cyanide is used mainly in the production of organic chemicals. Cyanide salts are used primarily in electroplating and metal treatment. Cyanide gained public attention when it was found to have caused the deaths of seven people who swallowed capsules contaminated with it.

Exposure Pathways

Humans can be exposed to cyanide from environmental, occupational, and consumer product sources. The single largest source of cyanide in air is from vehicle exhaust. Other sources of release to the air may include emissions from chemical processing industries, steel and iron industries, metallurgical industries, metal plating and finishing industries, and petroleum refineries. Cyanides may also be released from public waste incinerators, from waste disposed of in landfills, and during the use of cyanide-containing pesticides. When certain types of plastics, silk, wool, and paper are burned, cyanides are released. People who smoke tobacco take in larger amounts of cyanide than nonsmokers.

The major sources of cyanide release to water are discharges from publicly owned wastewater treatment works, iron and steel production plants, and organic chemical industries. Much smaller amounts of cyanide may enter water through storm-water runoff in locations where cyanide-containing road salts are used. Groundwater can be contaminated by the movement of cyanide through soil from landfills. The largest sources of cyanide releases to soil are probably from the disposal of cyanide wastes in landfills and the use of cyanide-containing road salts.

Cyanide has been found in at least 134 of the 1177 sites on the National Priorities List (NPL) of hazardous waste sites in the United States.

Workers may be exposed to cyanides in a wide variety of occupations including electroplating; metallurgy; metal cleaning; pesticide application; firefighting; steel manufacturing; gas works operations; manufacture of cyanides and some dyes, some pharmaceuticals, and some chelating agents; tannery work; blacksmithing; photoengraving; and photography.

Cyanide also occurs naturally in a variety of fruits, vegetables, and grains. In the United States, only low levels of cyanide are taken in from eating food because foods with high cyanide levels are not a major part of the American diet.

Metabolism

Cyanide can enter the body when a person breathes air containing hydrogen cyanide vapor or dust containing cyanide compounds. This may be a common pathway of exposure for individuals who work with the chemical, and for those who smoke. It is probably also a common exposure pathway for those who live near industrial and commercial areas where large amounts of the compound are used or disposed of in waste sites. Cyanide can also enter the body when a person eats food or drinks water containing it. If cyanide is present at a waste site, it may get into underground water as it passes downward through the soil. It is not common for persons to be exposed to cyanide through skin contact, although it can enter the body this way. Skin exposure usually happens only in the workplace.

Health Effects

Cyanide in the form of vitamin B12 (cyanocobalamin) is needed as part of a healthy diet to prevent iron poor blood, or anemia.

The effects of cyanide may vary from person to person depending upon things such as health, family traits, age, and sex. Exposure to high levels of cyanide for a short period harms the central nervous system, respiratory system, and cardiovascular system. Short-term exposure to high levels of cyanide can cause coma and/or death. Brief exposures to lower levels result in rapid, deep breathing; shortness of breath; convulsions; and loss of consciousness. These short-term effects go away with time because cyanide does not stay in the body. In some cases, quick medical treatment can revive a person who has been poisoned by cyanide.

Skin contact with dust from certain cyanide compounds can cause skin irritation and ulcerations.

People have developed damage to the nervous system and thyroid gland after eating food containing low levels of cyanide for a long time (months to years). Effects on the nervous system believed to be from long-term exposure to cyanide include deafness, vision problems, and loss of muscle coordination. Effects on the thyroid gland can cause cretinism (retarded physical and mental growth in children), or enlargement and overactivity of the gland. These effects have been seen in people who eat large amounts of cassava, a cyanide-containing vegetable, and who don't have enough iodine and other necessary nutrients in their diet. These effects have not been seen at levels of cyanide exposure usually found in foods in the United States.

Some animal data show that cyanide may cause harm to the unborn offspring, but the studies are not complete enough to measure this effect. No evidence exists to tell if cyanide causes cancer.

Inhalation exposure to cyanide causes rapid effects. Exposure of humans at a level of 110 ppm can cause death within 30 minutes to 1 hour. At a level of about 18 ppm, persons may have headaches, weakness, and nausea (after several hours of exposure). Hydrogen cyanide vapor has a smell of bitter almonds that some individuals can first smell at about 0.6 ppm. This smell will not alert everyone to the fact that hydrogen cyanide is in the air, because not all persons can smell hydrogen cyanide. Deaths in animals have been reported at exposure levels ranging from 20 ppm for 4.5 hours to 503 ppm for 5 minutes. Heart effects in rats have been reported following exposure at 200 ppm for 12.5 minutes.

Little long-term exposure information is available. In humans exposed to cyanides in the workplace, effects on the thyroid gland and other health problems (breathing difficulty, headache, throat irritation, weakness, changes in taste and smell, abdominal pain, vomiting, and nervous instability) have been reported at levels of 6.4 to 10.3 ppm. Nervous system effects have been seen in dogs exposed to hydrogen cyanide at 45 ppm for 30 minutes a day for up to 22 weeks.

Short-term exposures resulting from suicides and suicide attempts have been reported. The lowest amount eaten causing death was 0.56 mg/kg/day. There is no information showing that long-term exposure to cyanides in food or water causes health effects in humans. Harm to the nervous system and developing offspring has been seen in animals fed cyanides. A single dose of 3.4 mg/kg has caused death in animals. Rats died when a cyanide compound was placed directly into their stomachs daily for 90 days. A comparison of short-term and long-term animal studies shows that a single dose given all at one time can cause death, while higher levels of cyanides given in food over a longer time do not cause death. The reason for this may be that cyanides enter the body more slowly when given in food.

Regulations

The government has made recommendations to limit the exposure of the general public to cyanide in food and the exposure of workers to cyanide in the workplace. Hydrogen cyanide is sometimes used to treat food after it is harvested to prevent pest damage. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) allows levels of cyanide in food ranging from 25 ppm in dried beans, peas, and nuts to 250 ppm in spices.

Cyanide levels in the workplace are regulated by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). OSHA has a legally enforceable exposure limit of 5 milligrams of cyanide per cubic centimeter of air (mg/cm3) for cyanide and 11 mg/cm3 (or 10 ppm) hydrogen cyanide in air for an 8-hour workday, 40-hour workweek. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) recommends that employee exposure to hydrogen cyanide and cyanide salts should not be more than 5 mg/m3 in air for a 10-minute sampling period.

Information excerpted from Toxicological Profile for Cyanide December 1989 Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry United States Public Health Service