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| Britain |
| UK police arrest suspects seeking to procure dirty bomb materials |
| 2004-09-26 |
| POLICE arrested four men in London under Britain's anti-terrorist law, as a newspaper claimed it had infiltrated a gang trying to buy radioactive material for a "dirty bomb". The Metropolitan Police said the four men - arrested under the Terrorism Act 2001 - had been taken into custody at a central London police station for further questioning. "Several addresses have been searched," a police spokesman said. "Some searches continue." All four men - whose names were not released - were detained under section 41 of the Terrorism Act, which refers to "the (suspected) commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism". The News of the World said it had co-operated with police after it infiltrated a gang that claimed to be looking for radioactive material on behalf of a Saudi described as sympathetic to "the Muslim cause". The Saudi, whose name was not disclosed, was reportedly willing to pay £300,000 (756,000) in cash for a kilogram of "highly powerful radioactive material" from Russia known as Red Mercury. I think we can guess who the ultimate buyer of this stuff was supposed to be ... The News of the World said the material was developed by Soviet scientists during the Cold War "for making briefcase nuclear bombs" that could kill everyone within a few city blocks. "It is very, very radioactive," a member of the gang was quoted as telling Mazher Mahmood, the News of the World's star investigative reporter, who posed as a Muslim extremist. "The guy (from Saudi Arabia) said it is used for making bombs. It'll either be for use here in the United Kingdom or in the United States," the gang member reportedly said. The gang allegedly consisted of a banker originally from Goa, India, his "sidekick" from Mozambique, and a Somalian formerly resident in Saudi Arabia, while the Saudi was said to have successfully applied for a visa to enter Britain. Police said three suspects were arrested at a hotel in the Brent Cross district of north London, while a fourth man was taken into custody at his north London home. The News of the World described elite anti-terrorist officers raiding a Holiday Inn at Brent Cross. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #17 Link to photo of Buck Toothed Messenger of Allan someone, please. Some of us are missing out here! |
| Posted by: Bulldog 2004-09-26 11:22:40 AM |
| #16 That one... the buck-toothed geezer. A beauty! Come on Shep, give em a chance to show willing before driving em into the sea. /irony |
| Posted by: Howard UK 2004-09-26 11:21:14 AM |
| #15 lol Bryan, I too have seen the 'Buck toothed Messenger of Allan, oh how i laughed at thier pathetic jesture, a party of 2 people going there to have a party if you ask me, dont let em back in. |
| Posted by: Shep UK 2004-09-26 11:03:15 AM |
| #14 The one on the front of the NOTW? A likely candidate to me! I bet he's enjoying his first dose of the giggle juice.'Hey I'll tell you everything mwahahahaha!' Thwack. |
| Posted by: Howard UK 2004-09-26 8:33:54 AM |
| #13 I don't know if you saw the thin guy with the beard - the one with the stupid grin. Maybe he's the Muslim equivalent of - whatsisname - Clark Kent? Watch Koran Khaled transform himself into Supermahmoud. |
| Posted by: Bryan 2004-09-26 8:25:32 AM |
| #12 Did they intend becoming Muslim superheroes? Out to aid the community at large - flying through the sky in tights to help any citizen in distress? Very public spirited. I'm impressed - give it to them. |
| Posted by: Howard UK 2004-09-26 8:14:00 AM |
| #11 "Hell, it's a start." True. I suppose if one can weed out all the self-interest there might just possibly be some genuine attempt there to behave like human beings. "Green Kryton?" Krypton? It's been a while since I read a Superman comic. Like decades. |
| Posted by: Bryan 2004-09-26 8:13:40 AM |
| #10 Red Mercury is a code name for Green Krytonite. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2004-09-26 7:44:31 AM |
| #9 Veery slowly... but it is the first time they've got off their arses and acted responsibly rather than bitching from the sidelines and blaming Blair. Rather cynically I believe they're terrified of the possibility of a backlash against the Muslim community in the UK that Bigley's murder may prompt. Hell, it's a start. |
| Posted by: Howard UK 2004-09-26 7:40:35 AM |
| #8 "my view of UK muslims is beginning to change (slowly)." Howard, I'm not so sure about this. I don't know about the reporter, but the Muslim council is hardly showing the sense of urgency required by the situation. Ten days after the kidnapping and these guys drift over there spouting platitudes about how they are going to try to appeal to the clerics and the kidnappers' sense of compassion. [Er... what was that again?? Possibly I didn't hear that correctly.] I don't really buy it. How can you tell that I've had it with these Muslims?? |
| Posted by: Bryan 2004-09-26 7:34:56 AM |
| #7 In the comments section at LGF there is a very good description of how the Red Mercury urban legend started; you can see it here. |
| Posted by: Phil Fraering 2004-09-26 7:24:57 AM |
| #6 Waht, with the Muslim Council of britain flying senior members to Iraq to help free the Brit hostage and a muslim undercover reporter trapping these guys, my view of UK muslims is beginning to change (slowly). |
| Posted by: Howard UK 2004-09-26 6:35:59 AM |
| #5 I had a quick shifty at the News of the World in the local Newsagent and they were ranting about a Saudi connection to this. I fthese are British citizens with dual nationality then either lock 'em up or kick 'em out - I don't think this will stand up in court as the story's all over th papers and is's a classic News of the World sting. |
| Posted by: Howard UK 2004-09-26 6:33:30 AM |
| #4 Red Mercury is a Russian code name for an ingredient used in nuclear weapons, and is often involved in arms trafficking scams. This is from the CSIS (Canadien intel org) http://www.csis-scrs.gc.ca/eng/comment/com57_e.html That article doesn't specifiy if it's radioactive, but it doesn't look that way. What's scary is the intent. We don't know if the money was real (they could just kill the dealer for it), but since they got four guys in custody, we know Padilla wasn't just an isolated incident. If their intent to buy was legitimate, the threat level is now higher. Times are desparate for terrorists. With W willing to attack them around the world, they may decide to preempt the laser-guided missle that has their name on it and sneak one in here first. Let's hope the real stuff stays in the right hands. Iran must be stopped. |
| Posted by: Anonymous6648 2004-09-26 1:57:15 AM |
| #3 The red stuff in that thermometer was alcohol. |
| Posted by: Fawad 2004-09-26 1:14:44 AM |
| #2 But Gromky, was my mom's thermometer just a hoax? :-} |
| Posted by: Super Hose 2004-09-26 1:11:47 AM |
| #1 Red Mercury? Hahaha, there's no such thing. These terrorists are barking up the wrong tree (thankfully). Red Mercury is an urban legend. I wish I had more citations, but evidently some goobers made a children's computer game with the title "Red Mercury" and clogged up all the google results with it. |
| Posted by: gromky 2004-09-26 12:35:28 AM |