British police arrest two after chemical find

By Staff
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Google Oneindia News

London, July 20: British police said today they had arrested two men under anti-terrorism laws after finding two containers marked 'hydrogen peroxide,' the chemical used in 2005 suicide bombings in London.

Police found the two 25 litre vessels in a flat they were searching as part of a drugs inquiry in the southwestern city of Bristol.

''There is a heightened vigilance with the general terrorist threat and that has sparked our inquiry as to why someone would ostensibly be in possession of up to 50 litres of hydrogen peroxide,'' Steve Mortimore, Assistant Chief Constable of Avon and Somerset Constabulary, said.

''If it turns out to be 50 litres of industrial strength hydrogen peroxide, then clearly there are some questions to answer,'' he told the BBC. ''We've got one man from Afghanistan and one man from Somalia.'' The arrests took place in the course of this week, but the exact timing was not immediately clear. The chemical had been taken away for forensic tests.

The four suicide bombers who killed 52 commuters in London on July 7, 2005, used bombs made with hydrogen peroxide, a bleach used to dye hair. The men who tried to detonate bombs two weeks later also used bombs containing hydrogen peroxide.

Britain has seen a marked increase in terrorism-related plots since the September 11 strikes on the United States and its decision to join US forces invading Iraq in 2003.

Britain's security minister said this week the country faced a threat from more than 200 militant cells and were monitoring about 4,000 individuals. Minister Alan West said the British security services were looking at 30 groupings 'very closely.'

REUTERS >

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