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CNN Sunday Morning
London Authorities Arrest 3 Men on Terrorist Charges
Aired November 17, 2002 - 11:07 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.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: Authorities tell CNN three men have been arrested in London on terrorism charges. "The Sunday Times" reports the suspects were allegedly planning to release poison gas in the city's subway system.
CNN Senior International Correspondent Walter Rodgers joins us from London with more details.
Walter, a very disturbing report. Any confirmation yet as to what their intent might have been?
WALTER RODGERS, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Not really, Carol, but this story has the ring of Arnold Schwarzenegger or Bruce Willis action movie. Still, for millions of Londoners it has a blood-chilling element of terrifying reality.
MI5, the British equivalent of the FBI, has arrested three Muslims from North Africa and charged them under the terrorist act. The allegation -- that they were in possession of articles that could be used for the preparation, instigation and commission of terrorist acts.
MI5 believes the three men were going to target London although no final target may have actually been selected.
The Sunday papers here, quoting government sources, are reporting a poison gas attack was being planned for London's tube, the subway which carries upwards of three million passengers a day.
Such an attack might be catastrophic -- tens of thousands of passengers trapped underground with poison gas floating through subterranean tunnels and up through the same exits that passengers would be using to flee.
The three Muslims under arrest are said to be part of the North Africa front, which allegedly has links to al Qaeda. And al Qaeda has carried out experiments using deadly cyanide gas.
British officials, however, caution the three men were not in possession of chemicals or explosives. It's not clear whether the police suspect they were still trying to procure these items or whether the accused already had such materials and the police simply have not found them.
Still, this investigation has been underway for six months and Prime Minister Tony Blair decided it was time to shut down these North Africans.
Last week Mr. Blair was reporting almost daily raw intelligence warnings of terrorist threats to Britain and an audio tape attributed to Osama bin Laden has reportedly put the UK at the top of the radical Islamists' hit list. Carol?
LIN: Well, why the secrecy around this investigation though? Isn't it better for the public to know and certainly to publicize that these guys were caught and the conditions in which they were caught?
RODGERS: Well, I think the answer is, in a word, wisdom. You don't want the public to panic in a situation like this and the best asset the British have in this are the three and a half million Londoners who ride the tube every day, if indeed that was the target or the alleged target in this plot because now the public at least through the newspapers and media have been put on alert and the alert has told them, "Be aware of suspicious people, suspicious activities, suspicious parcels in the subways, in this town, in the underground.
And, thus, that's probably the best law enforcement asset that police have in a situation like this. Carol?
LIN: You bet. All right -- thanks so much -- Walt Rodgers reporting live from London. Good to see you.
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 November 17, 2002 - 11:07 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: Authorities tell CNN three men have been arrested in London on terrorism charges. "The Sunday Times" reports the suspects were allegedly planning to release poison gas in the city's subway system.
CNN Senior International Correspondent Walter Rodgers joins us from London with more details.
Walter, a very disturbing report. Any confirmation yet as to what their intent might have been?
WALTER RODGERS, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Not really, Carol, but this story has the ring of Arnold Schwarzenegger or Bruce Willis action movie. Still, for millions of Londoners it has a blood-chilling element of terrifying reality.
MI5, the British equivalent of the FBI, has arrested three Muslims from North Africa and charged them under the terrorist act. The allegation -- that they were in possession of articles that could be used for the preparation, instigation and commission of terrorist acts.
MI5 believes the three men were going to target London although no final target may have actually been selected.
The Sunday papers here, quoting government sources, are reporting a poison gas attack was being planned for London's tube, the subway which carries upwards of three million passengers a day.
Such an attack might be catastrophic -- tens of thousands of passengers trapped underground with poison gas floating through subterranean tunnels and up through the same exits that passengers would be using to flee.
The three Muslims under arrest are said to be part of the North Africa front, which allegedly has links to al Qaeda. And al Qaeda has carried out experiments using deadly cyanide gas.
British officials, however, caution the three men were not in possession of chemicals or explosives. It's not clear whether the police suspect they were still trying to procure these items or whether the accused already had such materials and the police simply have not found them.
Still, this investigation has been underway for six months and Prime Minister Tony Blair decided it was time to shut down these North Africans.
Last week Mr. Blair was reporting almost daily raw intelligence warnings of terrorist threats to Britain and an audio tape attributed to Osama bin Laden has reportedly put the UK at the top of the radical Islamists' hit list. Carol?
LIN: Well, why the secrecy around this investigation though? Isn't it better for the public to know and certainly to publicize that these guys were caught and the conditions in which they were caught?
RODGERS: Well, I think the answer is, in a word, wisdom. You don't want the public to panic in a situation like this and the best asset the British have in this are the three and a half million Londoners who ride the tube every day, if indeed that was the target or the alleged target in this plot because now the public at least through the newspapers and media have been put on alert and the alert has told them, "Be aware of suspicious people, suspicious activities, suspicious parcels in the subways, in this town, in the underground.
And, thus, that's probably the best law enforcement asset that police have in a situation like this. Carol?
LIN: You bet. All right -- thanks so much -- Walt Rodgers reporting live from London. Good to see you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
