Posted on 02/16/2003 11:45:58 AM PST by aculeus
LONDON (AP) - Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida network has a "substantial presence" in Britain, the head of London's Metropolitan Police said Sunday. John Stevens said it was difficult to know how many al-Qaida cells were active in Britain. "But we do know there is a substantial presence, and we are taking action," he told the British Broadcasting Corp.
In the past week, Britain has been on a heightened state of alert, with increased security at several airports across the country. More than 400 troops were stationed at London's Heathrow airport last week and police have bolstered the number of officers at several sites around London.
Police said Sunday that a 37-year-old Venezuelan arrested Thursday after a suspected live hand grenade was found in his luggage at Gatwick airport had been charged under the Terrorism Act.
Hasil Mohammed Rahaham-Alan was charged with possession of explosives, possession of items for terrorist purposes and carrying a dangerous item on a flight. He was arrested after arriving on a flight from Caracas. The discovery led officers to shut the airport's North Terminal for several hours.
Rahaham-Alan was due to appear Monday at London's Bow Street Magistrates Court.
Police warned last week that al-Qaida might try attacking London during the Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha. Security officials are concerned terrorists will attempt to fire at aircraft with ground-to-air missiles, Stevens confirmed.
"That is one of the problems," he told the BBC.
Transport Secretary Alistair Darling said security would remain tight at airports and warned that railway stations and London's subway system also could be targeted by terrorists.
"We are going to have to remain vigilant, I suspect, for some time to come," he told the BBC. "We will just have to make judgments from time to time, based on the advice we get from the security services, as to what level of alert there has to be..."
Meanwhile, every police force in England and Wales is training a team to deal with a chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear attack. The training should be complete by the end of May.
Police arrested nine terror suspects near airports in England last week, and London Heathrow's Terminal 2 was evacuated after a security alert on Friday.
Eight of the suspects were released without charge, though five were taken into custody by immigration officials.
Police were still questioning a Venezuelan man arrested Thursday at Gatwick airport for carrying a suspected live hand grenade in his luggage. The discovery, after the man arrived on a flight from Caracas, led officers to shut the airport's North Terminal for several hours.
"The threat is still high," said Stevens, adding that the government's emergency planning committee, code-named Cobra, was meeting daily to assess the level of danger.
AP-ES-02-16-03 1419EST
This story can be found at: http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGARYOZD9CD.html
Was he supposed to hand off to someone boarding another plane?
Figures....and I heard the Turkish PM talking about that the first thing we should do is not assume that all muslims are terrorists.... Well, how many "Smiths" have hand grenades that are trying to get on flights or fly planes into buildings?
Sarcasm is good. Calling him a Venezuelan is bad.
The grenade? Yes it was reported. His muslim name? No, not to my knowledge.
But smart journos check out FreeRepublic!
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