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More Terrorism Arrests in Great Britain
Aired January 13, 2003 - 14:07 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: More busts in the poison scare in Britain. Six people arrested yesterday in connection with last week's discovery of the deadly poison ricin in a London apartment.
Our senior international correspondent Nic Robertson now live from the British capital -- Nic.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, those six people, five men and one woman, being held on charges -- on suspicion of breaking the Year 2000 Terrorism Act. Now police in Bournemouth -- this is the coastal town about 90 miles southwest of London where these people were picked up say they've been searching two premises.
They say so far they haven't found any chemical agents, and police are not directly putting a link between these recent arrests and the arrests just a little over week ago in London of people when ricin was found in an apartment there.
However, sources that we talked to within the police say that there is a link. There were anti-terrorist police who performed this -- the arrests and the very fact that the people are being held on suspicion of terrorism. Now, four of the people who were arrested a week ago in London in the north London area, one of them found at the flat where the ricin was also found, have appeared in court today. Their first hearing, and their court appearance today was essentially for them to acknowledge their names and acknowledge the addresses they were found at. The charges that they now face are one of breaking the 1996 Chemical Weapons Act. That's the first time people in Britain have been charged with that. They were charged with developing or producing chemical weapons. Also being charged for violations of the Year 2000 Terrorist Act as well. They they're expected to appear in criminal court on Friday later this week -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Now, ricin, it's something we haven't heard a lot about here in the United States. Can you give us some history or background into this?
ROBERTSON: Well, there's a number of very worrying details about ricin. That is -- it is a very toxic agent. It takes very, very small amounts to harm you. It can be inhaled, ingested or injected. It depends which way it enters your body as to how lethal it -- or the quantities that it would take to kill you. But it can be as small as micro -- hundreds of micrograms to kill you. That is about the size of a pinhead. There is no known cure for ricin. It is derived or made from the easily available castor bean.
Perhaps one of the things that offsets the use of ricin as a weapon of mass destruction, however, makes its lethality, if you will, in the hands of terrorists, perhaps slightly less is that it is more commonly used as a tool for assassination. It is very difficult to disperse it over a wide area. The police in Britain are concerned that some small amounts may still be out there -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Our Nic Robertson. Thanks, Nic.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired January 13, 2003 - 14:07 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: More busts in the poison scare in Britain. Six people arrested yesterday in connection with last week's discovery of the deadly poison ricin in a London apartment.
Our senior international correspondent Nic Robertson now live from the British capital -- Nic.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, those six people, five men and one woman, being held on charges -- on suspicion of breaking the Year 2000 Terrorism Act. Now police in Bournemouth -- this is the coastal town about 90 miles southwest of London where these people were picked up say they've been searching two premises.
They say so far they haven't found any chemical agents, and police are not directly putting a link between these recent arrests and the arrests just a little over week ago in London of people when ricin was found in an apartment there.
However, sources that we talked to within the police say that there is a link. There were anti-terrorist police who performed this -- the arrests and the very fact that the people are being held on suspicion of terrorism. Now, four of the people who were arrested a week ago in London in the north London area, one of them found at the flat where the ricin was also found, have appeared in court today. Their first hearing, and their court appearance today was essentially for them to acknowledge their names and acknowledge the addresses they were found at. The charges that they now face are one of breaking the 1996 Chemical Weapons Act. That's the first time people in Britain have been charged with that. They were charged with developing or producing chemical weapons. Also being charged for violations of the Year 2000 Terrorist Act as well. They they're expected to appear in criminal court on Friday later this week -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Now, ricin, it's something we haven't heard a lot about here in the United States. Can you give us some history or background into this?
ROBERTSON: Well, there's a number of very worrying details about ricin. That is -- it is a very toxic agent. It takes very, very small amounts to harm you. It can be inhaled, ingested or injected. It depends which way it enters your body as to how lethal it -- or the quantities that it would take to kill you. But it can be as small as micro -- hundreds of micrograms to kill you. That is about the size of a pinhead. There is no known cure for ricin. It is derived or made from the easily available castor bean.
Perhaps one of the things that offsets the use of ricin as a weapon of mass destruction, however, makes its lethality, if you will, in the hands of terrorists, perhaps slightly less is that it is more commonly used as a tool for assassination. It is very difficult to disperse it over a wide area. The police in Britain are concerned that some small amounts may still be out there -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Our Nic Robertson. Thanks, Nic.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
