Chemical attack foiled in UK

news24.com ^ | 22/11/2003 15:50 | AFP

[Destro]

Chemical attack foiled in UK

22/11/2003 15:50 - (SA)

London - A terror attack in Britain was foiled after a company financed by "the Islamic community" tried to buy a large quantity of toxic chemicals, arousing the supplier's suspicions, the Financial Times newspaper reported on Saturday.

British laboratory Amersham Biosciences received an order in Autumn 2002 for 500kg of saponin from a company giving a London post office box address, the newspaper said.

It said the "terrorist group" planning to launch the lethal attacks was London-based.

"Their plot came to light when the supplier became suspicious about the quantities of chemicals involved," it reported.

The order was refused and the police alerted, it added.

According to experts quoted by the daily newspaper, saponin is a product sometimes used in laboratories to enhance the transmission of molecules through biological cell walls.

Those trying to buy the substance may have planned to mix it with ricin to cause widespread poisoning if the mixture was smeared across public places, the experts said.

But Jonathan Tucker, a Washington-based senior researcher at the Centre for Nonproliferation Studies of the Monterey Institute, was quoted in the article as voicing doubts the plot could have succeeded.

"Even with a carrier of some kind, I doubt it would be possible for ricin to be absorbed through the skin because it is a large protein molecule," he was quoted as saying.

[Dog]

fyi..

[Darksheare]

Maybe ricin wasn't the substance of choice for saponin transmission?

[swarthyguy]

remember the bust last year in a mosque of the suspected ricin attack? Think it was that onearmedscumbag Hamza's outhouse.

[alley cat]

There is so much missing here. Did they arrest anybody? What exactly is meant by "the islamic community"?? WHAT business was involved??

The article makes it sound like no harm no foul and the matter was dropped.

[blam]

We're saved again by the terrorists stupidity. Does Islam make one stupid?

[Experiment 6-2-6]

Centre for Nonproliferation Studies of the Monterey Institute

Okay..

Like, I'm trying to figure out where they decided how their opinion was important?

The Monterey Nonproliferation Strategy Group is an international body of distinguished nonproliferation analysts and veteran policy practitioners working to craft responses to weapons of mass destruction (WMD) threats around the world. Its members aim to develop innovative and practical policy recommendations to thwart the proliferation of WMD and to sustain nonproliferation norms and regimes.

That being said, are these good guys or bad guys?

I can't tell at first glance..

[Paul Atreides]

Chemical attack foiled in UK

The anti-war crowd isn't having a very good week: first a visit from W, and now this.

[Plutarch]

British laboratory Amersham Biosciences received an order in Autumn 2002 for 500kg of saponin from a company giving a London post office box address, the newspaper said.

Breathtaking ineptitude. I guess there is a reason the countries spawning terrorists tend to be backward hellholes.

[Destro]

I am not "pro-war" (the term is stupid) but I am pro defense and pro strength. Sometimes that means use of good police work or disciplined use of force to end "badness" or "evil".

[VOA]

I wish this hadn't been reported.
Now equally stupid terrorist are tipped off that they shouldn't order over a TON of
a compound at one time.

This sounds so incredible, I almost think this is an article from The Onion.
Not even an amateur terrorist should be this stupid.

[Sam Cree]

It really aggravates me that the media takes these idiots at their word and refers to 'em as anti-war. If they were truly anti-war, they'd have something to say about the terror attacks.

It doesn't matter what cause the Left adopts, from environmentalism to globalism to antiwar to civil rights. They rob all these causes of any legitamacy they might have had by placing them in the service of socialism and totalitarianism.

Hi, Paul.

[Plutarch]

"The activities of the Monterey Nonproliferation Strategy Group are supported by the The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and the Edgerton Foundation".

At Monterey Nonproliferation Strategy Group's web site it is not immediately apparent that it is a Left leaning shop, but the MacArthur Foundation web site demonstrates donations only to Lefties. MacArthur must know what they are getting for their money.

[Paul Atreides]

To some, this may sound crazy, but I was thinking about the scene in LoTR: The Fellowship of the Ring, in which Frodo looks into Galadriel's mirror, and sees what will happen to the Shire if he fails. In my opinion, it is the most disturbing scene in the movie. It also illustrates that no one will be untouched by evil, if complacency and fear become the attitude of the day. Evil will not just stop by wishing it away, or appeasing it.

The media, in their infinite stupidity, made a miscalculated error, in highlighting those worthless protestors. It has given all of us the opportunity to see exactly what they are made of, and it isn't pretty. They are soulless individuals who will side with evil, no matter the consequences. So, thank you mainstream media, for showing us what your kind of people are, and reminding us of how much we loathe you, and them.

Hi Sam!

[genefromjersey]

Exactly what I thought: another overblown, poorly researched story from the UK !!

You'll find saponin in a lot of things: aloe vera, that Herbal Essence shampoo the models get so excited about in the shower,fire extinguishing solutions,emulsifiers for tars and for medicines, ginseng (quite a bit of saponin in that !),digitalis,etc. It is poisonous if you can swallow enough of it.

Amersham Biosciences has facilities in nearby (to me) Piscataway, NJ, the UK (where this yarn originated), and a few other spots around the globe.One of the "persons of interest" in the anthrax investigation wound up working at the Piscataway facility at last report.

I suspect the "bated breath" news report involved more than a little press agentry.

[Sam Cree]

It's not crazy at all.

You are right, the media is part of the Left.

[txhurl]

ping