Heavy weapons cache discovered in Marseille
MARSEILLE, France, May 21 (AFP) - An Iranian national was detained Friday in the southern French port city of Marseille after police uncovered a large cache of weapons, explosives and burglary equipment in a cellar.
The 47-year-old Iranian, said to be the owner of the cellar, is already suspected of links to terrorist groups, one police source said.
However police said they had so far not determined whether the arms cache was intended for terrorist use or for criminal acts.
They were trying to establish whether the arrested man, who according to one police source was proficient in both chemistry and the use of computers, was the owner of the cache.
*****The find included seven kilograms (15 pounds) of explosives, an assault rifle, five handguns, several grenades and a stock of ammunition, police said.
Among other equipment found, described by police as "a top-flight burglary kit" were ski masks, fake identity papers - some of them in the name of the arrested man - handcuffs, rotating police lights, mobile telephones with their SIM cards, and maps of Spain.*****
Police said they were alerted late on Thursday by a resident of the building, who got a glimpse of the arsenal in the basement while visiting his own cellar.
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Pakistan Seizes Big Cache of Explosives, Holds Two
7:19 a.m. May 21, 2004 KARACHI, Pakistan – Pakistani police Friday arrested two suspected Islamic militants and seized a large quantity of explosives and bomb-making material from their hide-out in the southern port city of Karachi.
The militants – identified as Gull Rahim and Wasif – belong to the Harkat-ul Mujahideen al-Alami group, said Imran Shaukat, a police official.
Police seized 392 pounds of plastic explosives, 330 pounds of ammonium nitrate and other bomb making material during the raid in western Karachi, Shaukat said.
Police arrested Wednesday a militant from the same group, after a shootout in which the man, Kamran Atif, was wounded. Atif is suspected of being involved in several high-profile attacks, including a failed assassination attempt on Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf in 2002 and a suicide attack on the U.S. consulate in Karachi that killed 12 Pakistanis in the same year. Link to Article
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Explosives, Grenades, Ball Razers Seized (Sri Lanka)
by Sarath Malalasekera Police believe a major disaster may have averted following an anonymous telephone call to Grandpass police at midnight Monday, when they discovered a large quantity of high explosives, grenades and ball razers used in the manufacture of claymore mines on the ground above the crude oil pipelines running from the Colombo harbour to the Sapugaskanda oil refinery.
The explosives were packed in two black polythene bags. Investigations are also directed at tracing the origins of the weapons to trace those responsible for placing them.
The detection was made by a special police team led by Reserve Sub Inspector Ajith Peduruarachchi attached to the Grandpass police intelligence division. Investigations directed by Colombo DIG Sirisena Herath conducted by ASP Anton Sirikumar and Chief Inspector D.S. Jayasinghe, OIC Grandpass Police revealed that the weight of the entire explosives detected was 7.650 kilos. These C-4 power high explosives were packed in a black plastic cover and placed above the underground crude oil pipe lines, investigators said.
Police also detected six high powered hand grenades. DIG Herath said with Special Task Force bomb squad assistance, Grandpass police disposed the high powered explosives. Samples of the disposed explosives were sent to the Government Analyst for further investigations, Chief Inspector Jayasinghe said. ASP Anton Sirikumar conducting investigations, said a special intelligence team had been deployed to ascertain whether the explosives were meant for any particular purpose. Link to Article