Suspect 'key' in terror network
2003-01-16 11:10
London - A North African man arrested on suspicion of stabbing to death a British policeman is a key figure in a terror network linked to the recent discovery of the deadly poision ricin, newspapers here reported on Thursday.
The Independent said the man was an alleged al-Qaeda member wanted by Britain's domestic intelligence service MI5 for plotting to carry out chemical attacks on the country.
Citing anti-terrorist investigators, The Guardian said the suspect was "a very senior player" in the network thought to be behind a plot to use ricin.
A British police officer was stabbed to death and four others were wounded Tuesday during a raid on a flat in the northwest English city of Manchester intended to catch an illegal immigrant.
But during the operation, officers stumbled on two leading terror suspects and proceeded to arrest them.
Three men of North African origin, aged 23, 27 and 29, were arrested in total during the raid. But as police went through the flat one of the suspects broke free and got hold of a kitchen knife before lunging at officers.
None of the suspects had been handcuffed, while the officer killed had not been wearing body armour.
The Times said one of the two men arrested by chance had for some time been on the most-wanted list of suspected North African terrorists in Britain.
The Guardian said one was an important target for detectives hunting those responsible for the production of a small amount of ricin, found in a north London flat on January 5.
Home Secretary David Blunkett on Wednesday said that the suspect police were seeking to arrest during Tuesday's raid was an asylum seeker whose application had been rejected. The man had been in the country "on and off for about four years", the minister added.
Prime Minister Tony Blair vowed Britain would step up efforts to fight "terrorists" following the murder of the 40-year-old policeman in Manchester's multi-ethnic Crumpsall district.
The three arrested men were facing further questioning Thursday after the fatal knifing of detective Stephen Oake, an incident that shocked Britain amid a heightened security alert.
Oake, a father-of-three, was thought to be the first British police officer to be killed during an anti-terrorist operation in more than a decade.
Following the London raid on January 5, four men of North African origin were charged under the Terrorism Act and a separate chemical weapons act over plotting to use ricin. They are to appear at London's central criminal court on Friday. - Sapa-AFP
- SAPA