Woman charged in UK under anti-terror laws

LONDON, Nov 9 (Reuters) British police today charged a woman on terrorism-related offences for possession of a computer hard drive loaded with operating manuals for guns, poisons, mines and munitions.

Police said the charges against the woman were connected with the arrest last month of a man caught at Heathrow airport in possession of a night vision scope and a poisons handbook.

Police said among the items on the hard drive found in her possession were the Al Qaeda Manual, The Terrorists Handbook, The Mujahideen Poisons Handbook, a manual for a Dragunov sniper rifle, The Firearms and RPG Handbook, a manual for a 9mm pistol and a manual on how to win hand to hand fighting.

She will appear at the City of Westminster Magistrates Court tomorrow.

Police said the case followed the charges filed against 29-year-old Sohail Anjum Qureshi on November 1 after his arrest at Heathrow airport with the night vision scope and a computer hard drive also containing the Mujahideen Poisons Handbook.

Police sources said at the time their investigation covered possible terrorist acts outside Britain, and was not believed to have been linked to any other probes.

Britain has been on a high state of alert since August when police said they had disrupted a plot to blow up several US-bound airliners over the Atlantic using liquid explosives.

REUTERS DH BST0207