Report: Chemical warfare suits found in raid on London mosque

By DOUGLAS DAVIS

LONDON. -- Chemical warfare protection suits were found during a massive police raid on the London's Finsbury Park mosque last Monday, according to reports
that emerged here only on Sunday.

The discovery, which reportedly was suppressed to avoid inflaming racial tensions, indicate that a chemical attack is being planned by an al-Qaida cell in Britain.

And to add to the challenges facing security forces here, it was also revealed on Sunday that almost 1,200 British Muslims underwent training at al-Qaida military camps in Afghanistan.

The London-based Sunday Telegraph reported that the names, addresses and other details of the Britons were found by British military intelligence during searches
of bin-Ladin's cave complex at Tora Bora in eastern Afghanistan.

Many of the Britons who trained at the Afghanistan camps are now thought to have returned to Britain while others are believed to have died in combat. The location of some is known, but others have still to be traced. In all, the names of 1,192 Britons have been found.

A senior government official said it was "shocking to realize that so many young Britons had traveled to train with Osama bin Laden, al-Qa'eda and the Taliban," while Special Branch detectives believe that some of the men who cannot be traced might be plotting terrorist attacks in Britain.

Meanwhile, the Sunday Times reported that the chemical warfare suits found at the London mosque were undergoing scientific analysis to determine whether they contain traces of ricin or other toxic agents.

The police were quoted as saying no evidence has so far been found of chemicals or other substances that would pose an immediate threat to the public. It is not known how many suits were found at the mosque or their purpose.

Seven men - six north Africans and one eastern European - were arrested during the raid. Two are still being held under the terrorism act, which permits detention without trial of foreign nationals suspected of involvement in international terrorism.

Among those who are known to have frequented the mosque are two would-be suicide bombers. One was Richard Reid, the "shoe bomber", who tried to blow up
a plane over the Atlantic using plastic explosives embedded in the sole of his shoe in December 2001. The second was Zacarias Moussaoui, who has been charged in the US with being the 20th hijacker the September 11 attacks. He was arrested on immigration charges one month before the attack.

The raid on the mosque, which has provoked bitter protests by Muslims from a variety of backgrounds, was linked to a raid earlier this month on an apartment in the nearby district of Wood Green, where traces of ricin were found. Four Algerians have been charged with involvement in the development or production of chemical weapons.

The apartment, which had been rented by an Algerian asylum seeker, is believed to have been used as a factory for producing the toxin. Police fear there may be other chemical weapons factories operating in Britain.