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Bomb Found at Church Building in Utah
Police are looking for a suspect in connection with a home-made bomb left outside an LDS church building in Clearfield over the weekend.
Police were called to the building owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Sunday night after reports of a loud bang and a large amount of smoke.
Officers searched the area and found what appeared to be a home-made bomb near the building. Police say it was made of a melted-down liter pop bottle with gunpowder inside.
Witnesses say they saw a white Ford four-door truck leaving the area around the time of the explosion.
Clearfield police are looking for anyone with information concerning the bomb.
No injuries
were reported.
20 April 2004, AP
Bomb Scare at Belgian Royal Palace
Bomb disposal experts on Monday blew up two suspect packages found next to the Royal Palace in central Brussels, Belgian press agency Belga reported.
Army bomb disposal experts arrived at the Royal Palace shortly before midday after the two packages were found next to the left wing of the Royal Palace near to the locally well-known statue of King Leopold II.
The army used a specially equipped robot to investigate then destroy the two bags with a controlled explosion.
It is not
clear whether or not the packages were in fact dangerous.
19 April 2004, Expatica
Letter Bombs Sent to UK Politicians
A letter bomb has been sent to Democratic Unionist deputy leader Peter Robinson.
It was discovered at the East Belfast MP's constituency office at Belmont Avenue in the city on Monday.
A second device was sent to the SDLP's Alex Attwood at the Policing Board's offices in Clarendon Docks in Belfast.
Army bomb experts were called and the devices were taken away for forensic examination.
Mr Robinson said it was an attempt to kill or injure him and his office staff.
"It's an attempt by those who do not have a mandate to intimidate those who do have a mandate," he said.
"They
will not move me or my colleagues one iota from the path that
we are going to go forward on by this kind of attack."
19 April 2004, BBC
London Won’t Escape Terror Attack, Cleric Says
Several Islamic militant groups are preparing attacks on London, making such a strike unavoidable, a radical Muslim cleric said in an interview published yesterday by a Portuguese magazine.
One group
in London calling itself al-Qaeda Europe "has a great appeal
for young Muslims," Sheik Omar Bakri Mohammed told Publica
magazine from London. "I know that they are ready to launch
a big operation."
19 April 2004, Globe and Mail
Canada to Raise Security at Queen’s
Park Mailroom
The threat of parcel bombs and deadly biological agents such as anthrax and plague have prompted the Ontario government to increase security at a new, off-site Queen's Park mailroom.
The provincial government is looking for companies to provide an X-ray inspection system to scan and screen all mail and courier deliveries received at the legislature's Toronto hub for explosives and other concealed weapons.
"Since September 11, 2001, there has been an increased awareness of the need for added mail security as part of a broader emergency management program," reads a Request for Proposal issued by the Management Board Secretariat.
The province sorts and distributes deliveries at five government mailrooms throughout Ontario, but the extra security would only apply to a main Toronto office "located in the Queen's Park area" that receives about two million pieces a month addressed to the legislature, political offices and some government ministries.
"The equipment solutions will be implemented in a new site [to be determined], which will be removed from the immediate vicinity of Queen's Park.... Mail will be transported after this 'screen and clean' process," the document reads.
The more secure mailroom should be in place by the end of 2004 or early 2005.
Government officials would not disclose the cost of the increased security measures and move to a new location, citing security reasons and the competitive bidding process which is now under way. The Management Board Secretariat, which runs internal government operations, will pay for the changes.
The plan was conceived after a rash of U.S. mail deliveries in late 2001 that were laced with an unknown white powder believed to be anthrax. Though most were hoaxes or an overreaction by the nervous public, a few of the legitimate anthrax exposures in 2001 in the United States ended in death, according to the Centers for Disease Control.
The tense climate also sparked copycat incidents, and a widespread fear of any unknown white powder, in Canada.
"There have been a handful of incidents [at Queen's Park] in the past," said Jason Wesley, a spokesman for the Management Board Secretariat, which administers mail and other government services in Ontario. "Some have involved mail hoaxes that have caused disruptions to government services in the past. Our hope is that this will let us avoid major disruptions."
In October, 2001, three employees of the Ontario legislature were sent to hospital for suspected anthrax exposure after they came into contact with a suspicious letter addressed to former Progressive Conservative premier Mike Harris.
"On occasion we do get a suspicious package and we have procedures to look into it," said Dennis Clark, Sergeant-at-Arms for the legislative assembly.
Such cases are rare, he said, but they have spawned a set of strict, secretive procedures for handling mail.
The 2001 threat against Mr. Harris prompted Queen's Park security to move all mail-sorting operations out of the main legislative building. They also helped initiate a government-wide review of security that was completed in March, 2002, a spokesman with the province said. A September, 2002, security committee, chaired by Dr. James Young, Ontario's Commissioner of Public Safety, recommended the mailroom upgrades.
"Couriers used to be able to take packages almost to the office to which it was addressed," Mr. Wesley said.
All mail is
X-rayed before it is delivered to government offices, but it can't
detect biological agents. The new inspection system will test
for a wider range of hazards.
19 April 2004, National Post
Bomb Hoax Evacuates French Nuclear Power Plant
A bomb hoax forced the evacuation of around 100 staff members from a French nuclear power plant in the northern town of Flamanville, police said Wednesday.
The incident occurred Tuesday when a telephone caller told authorities that a bomb had been placed near a reactor at the power plant which had been shut down for regular maintenance.
The false
alert did not interrupt the operation of the rest of the plant,
the police said, adding that the employees returned to their posts
after a five-hour search failed to find any device.
14 April 2004, AP
The mail facility at Reagan National Airport shut down for 90 minutes last month after a grainy, green powder spilled from a package from Ethiopia, raising fears of a biological hazard. It turned out to be ground-up dried peas.
A suburban Metro station was shut down recently after something mushy was spotted there. It was chicken and brown rice.
Ever since the deadly anthrax mailings 21/2 years ago, the FBI's National Capital Response Squad has responded to thousands of false alarms involving suspicious substances or packages. Lately, the squad has handled an average of five to 10 incidents a week, but the numbers can jump much higher, often depending on events at home or abroad.
"In the very beginning, it was hard not to think every time you roll out the door that it's the end of the world," said FBI supervisor Jim Rice, who heads the squad. "Then you get a lot of historical perspective. We still treat each one like it's real until we prove that it's not."
Interviews with Rice and other agents on the squad provided a look at the challenges they face in Washington, where hypersensitivity over unfamiliar substances and unattended packages can lead to evacuations, road closings and traffic jams. Nowhere in the nation are the scares more prevalent than in the Washington, D.C., area. Nearly every case has turned out to be a false alarm -- a mistake or a hoax.
But agents still are attempting to determine how traces of potentially deadly ricin wound up in a letter-opening machine in the office of Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn. No one was harmed, but the Feb. 2 episode was a reminder of the importance of this often tedious work.
The squad,
created in 1999, more than doubled in size in fall 2001 to handle
the spike in calls generated by fears about anthrax. Its 15 agents
are hazmat specialists, bomb or crime evidence technicians, or
SWAT team members
14 April 2004, Washington Press
Italian Police Defuse Two Parcel Bombs
Italian police Thursday defused two parcel bombs received by the Italian Department of Corrections (DAP) in Rome, local media reported Thursday.
The packages were discovered in a post office in Rome's Bravetta district and the explosive devices were hidden in video cassettes, the report said.
After defusing the bombs, munition experts said they were powerful enough to cause serious injury or even death. Italian police are convinced anarchist groups were responsible.
According to the report, one parcel was addressed to DAPDirector Giovanni Tinebra and the other to the director of the office for inmates, Sebastiano Ardita.
Tinebra later said the bombs had in no way frightened or intimidated him. Ardita had a similar opinion, saying "these risks are all part of the job."
Munition experts said the bombs were identical to the one which exploded in Rome last October.
A month ago a similar parcel bomb addressed to the mayor of Florence was intercepted and defused before it reached the mayor.
Another parcel bomb using a video cassette exploded at a police station in the central Italian city of Perugia in February. However, the police station was not the intended target of the bomb which had been sent to a local bar and taken to the station only after it had aroused suspicion.
In October
and November, several parcel bombs were sent to police stations
in Rome and Viterbo, north of the capital.
1 April 2004, Xinhuanet
Three Letter Bombs Intercepted in Spain
Three letter bombs addressed to Spanish media organisations have been intercepted in Spain, three weeks after 191 people were killed in suspected al Qaeda train bombings.
Police explosives experts defused two of the letter bombs and blew up a third after they were detected by a scanner at a mail distribution centre in the northern city of Zaragoza on Thursday, the Interior Ministry said.
The discovery of the bombs came at a time when Spaniards' nerves remain on edge following the March 11 bombings of four Madrid commuter trains -- the first attack in the West linked to Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network since the September 11, 2001 strikes on New York and Washington.
An Interior Ministry source said authorities did not know who was responsible for the letter bombs, which were addressed to executives at newspaper La Razon, radio station COPE and broadcaster Antena 3.
Armed Basque separatist group ETA has sent letter bombs in the past while anarchist groups have been blamed for others.
The government initially blamed ETA for the March 11 train bombings before evidence grew that militant Islamists were responsible.
The Interior Ministry described the letter bombs as rudimentary devices, each containing about 60 grams (two ounces) of explosive.
The explosives were packed in video storage cases inside a bubble-wrap envelope. They carried a false sender's address in Spain, the ministry said in a statement.
Two parcel bombs were intercepted and defused in Italy on Thursday. They were addressed to senior officials of Italy's prison system, one of them a former anti-Mafia investigator.
Police said they suspected the Italian parcel bombs were the work of anarchists because the return address on one was a fictitious street using the name of a well-known anarchist.
Anarchists
are believed to have been behind a spate of parcel bombs in Italy
in the past three months. Bombs have been sent to European Union
officials, including European Commission President Romano Prodi.
1 April 2004, Reuters
Bomb Explodes in Alabama Mayor’s Mailbox
A chemical bomb exploded in the mailbox of Attalla Mayor Charles O'Rear on Wednesday night and a bomb threat was made at the Attalla jail Thursday morning, authorities said.
The mailbox bomb was a concoction of reactive chemicals that exploded about 9 p.m. in the mailbox, said Attalla Police Chief Joe. W. Hereford. The mayor and his wife were in their home and not injured.
"I'm taking it as a prank, I'm not sure it's anything more than that," O'Rear said Thursday. "There's no need for panic, no need for becoming unusually or overly concerned."
Hereford said no hazardous chemical agents were detected in the air after the explosion. The mayor said the chemical residue on his mailbox smelled like common household cleaners.
But the police chief said investigators are not dismissing the explosion as a prank.
"The explosion was strong enough to hurt somebody," he said. "This was not an April Fool's joke and we're not treating it as one."
A bomb threat telephoned to the jail Thursday morning prompted a search by the Gadsden bomb squad, but no explosive device was found. Authorities are treating the mailbox bomb and the threat as related incidents, Hereford said.
Evidence from the explosion was sent to the state crime lab in Jacksonville.
1 April 2004, AP
Bomb
found on Spanish rail track
Spanish police have found an explosive device on a high-speed
railway between Madrid and Seville, Interior Minister Angel Acebes
said.
Traffic on the line was halted after the discovery at Mocejon,
in the Toledo area, Mr Acebes said.
A rail employee raised the alert after seeing a suspicious package on the line half an hour outside Madrid and at least 10 trains have been halted.
Spain's rail system is particularly busy ahead of the Easter holidays.
Spain was rocked by a series of bombs on passenger trains in Madrid on 11 March which killed 191 and injured hundreds.
Police are pursuing suspected Islamic militants for those attacks.
Bomb-disposal experts have found between 10 and 12kg (22-24 pounds) of an explosive resembling dynamite under the line about 60km (40 miles) south of Madrid, Mr Acebes said.
The explosives
were connected to a detonator with a 130-metre cable.
The minister did not say if the bomb bore the hallmarks of any
particular group.
"As we get information regarding those possibly responsible
or details that move the investigation forward, we will give them
to you," Mr Acebes told reporters.
The BBC's Katya Adler reports from Madrid that passengers from the trains affected have been evacuated onto buses.
Trains and
motorways are packed across the country at this time as millions
of families set off on their holidays, our correspondent says.
2 April
2004, BBC
Dead Rat, Letter Bomb Sent to South African Soccer Coach/Club
Stuart Baxter's appointment as Bafana Bafana coach has been met with scepticism in most sections of the South African media, but Bafana goalkeeper Hans Vonk says he's heard only good things.
"I have not met the man. But I have been told he is a good coach. My teammate at Heerenveen FC, Erik Edman, played under him in the Swedish league in the 1990s and rates him very highly," said Vonk.
"Edman says the man is a good motivator. He also told me that if he is given the chance, he might turn Bafana around. The man is a fighter."
Indeed, he'll have to be. Here's a man who has had a dead rat posted in his letterbox, a man who was unfazed by a letter bomb that was sent to his club's head of security by disgruntled supporters during one of his stints in the Swedish league.
"There would be phone calls in the middle of the night, and the players were threatened. You know, calls like: 'We know where your kids go to school,' " Baxter told The Observer in London of his time at Stockholm.
At 50, the England under-19 coach has been around the block, although at less than glamorous sides. His greatest achievement was winning the league championship with Sweden's AIK Stockholm in 1998 and 1999.
But he will need to survive more than dead rats to cope with South African soccer politics.
Baxter is philosophical and understands the game. "What fires up an Englishman would petrify a Japanese and may intimidate a Swede. What would prepare a Swede for a game may not encourage an English player, so the whole psychological approach has to be different," Baxter told the Uefa.com website last year.
His role with the English FA involved much more than coaching the under-19s. Ahead of the 2002 World Cup, Baxter was a spy for English coach Sven-Goran Eriksson. And he was one of the few people who called for a change in the English playing style.
"I think at one stage it was very English, very militaristic, based on hard work and nothing else. We took into consideration that it was not the only way that people learn," he said.
"Playing different systems helps players understand different systems. We could quickly change from 4-3-3 to 4-4-1-1. At youth level it is victory at all costs. It's about equipping the players for international football."
Having coached
clubs in Japan, Norway, Portugal and Sweden, Baxter impressed
Safa, who were hard pressed to get a coach who could also communicate
with managers and South Africa's overseas-based players.
28 March 2004, Sunday Times
Explosive Detonated at Idaho School
Police are still interviewing suspects allegedly involved with a small explosive device that was detonated on the Indian Hills Elementary schoolgrounds Saturday at about 8:30 p.m. No one was injured.
Firefighters at the nearby fire station heard the explosion, and called the Pocatello police, who in turn called in the Tooele, Utah bomb squad to assist.
When police arrived, they found the detonated device and secured the scene until the bomb squad arrived at about 1 a.m. Sunday.
The PPD and bomb squad decided it was too dark to search the area, so police posted watches around the school until about 9:30 a.m., but no homes were evacuated
Upon searching the area, several more of the devices were discovered on the soccer field and parking lot.
While they were there, police came into contact with those who they believe were responsible.
PPD Lt. Brad Hunt said the police are interviewing them.
"The suspects were tinkering with black powder out of fireworks to make a bigger bang," Hunt said.
Indian Hills Principal Kent Hobbs said two 17-year-olds admitted to building and detonating the device and showed officials where the others were located.
Hobbs said the makeshift bombs were M-50 fireworks attached to butane canisters.
The Tooele
bomb squad later detonated the remaining devices.
28 March 2004, Idaho State Journal
Virginia Taxation Dept. Receives White Powder
Richmond fire officials tell 8News that the suspicious white powder sent to the Virginia Department of Taxation Wednesday is harmless.
Crews evacuated 130 employees after a worker opened the envelope exposing herself to the powder. Lab results didn't say exactly what the white granular powder was but did indicate it tested negative for both Anthrax and Ricin. No one was harmed in the incident. Investigators are now tracking down the person who sent the envelope.
Bomb Squad Investigates Package at Kansas Senator’s Office (Kansas City Star, 3/25/2004)
Officials would not say what made it seem threatening, but a package that arrived Wednesday at the Overland Park office of U.S. Sen. Pat Roberts prompted a call for emergency personnel.
The Overland Park office of U.S. Sen. Pat Roberts was evacuated Wednesday after a suspicious package was delivered there, and the bomb squad was called to determine its contents.
The squad's findings, however, were something less than explosive: compact discs and tax forms.
Fire Department officials ordered employees to evacuate the four-story Metcalf Bank building at College Boulevard and Quivira Road shortly after the package was received at noon, officials said. The senator was in Washington.
The priority package, which was sent from California to the Kansas Republican's office, had characteristics that made people worry it could be dangerous. Officials would not say why it looked unsafe.
Office employees decided to err on the side of safety, Roberts' spokeswoman Sarah Ross said from Washington.
Firefighters told everyone in the building to leave, and police officers cordoned the southeast corner of the College Square Shopping Center while bomb and hazardous-materials teams went in.
By 1:30 p.m., the bomb squad had X-rayed the package. It did not appear to be dangerous, so they opened it and found the CDs and documents. Then the hazardous-materials team examined the package.
Employees were allowed back in about 2 p.m., after Police Chief John Douglass told them the building was safe.
There was no immediate word from authorities on whose tax forms or CDs were in the package.
Police kept the package and were still investigating after their mobile command center left. Officials said the sender apparently didn't intend for the package to look dangerous, but Douglass said they had to be cautious.
“We're talking about a U.S. senator. We're talking about a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee.
“We're talking about living in a very dangerous world today,” Douglass said.
26 March 2004, WRIC News
Hundreds Evacuated in Bomb Scare at UK Office Block
A bomb scare sparked a mass exodus at one of Peterborough's biggest office blocks.
More than 500 people were evacuated from the building, in Lynch Wood, which houses insurers Royal Sun Alliance, its internet banking division More Than, and publishing company Emap.
Police and firefighters were called to the scene, along with army bomb disposal experts from RAF Wittering, who carried out a controlled explosion on a suspect briefcase, using a robot.
The case was discovered on the top floor when the Royal Sun Alliance offices were searched following a bomb threat yesterday morning.
An anonymous call had been made to the company's Sunderland call centre warning a device had been planted at one of its offices.
It emerged that the briefcase did not contain a bomb, but some telephone wire and a transistor which had been accidentally left behind by an engineer.
The people who made the threat have not been traced and their motive is unknown, but police believe a former employee with a grudge against Royal Sun Alliance could be responsible.
Officers said the discovery of the briefcase was a coincidence.
It was found at about 10.20am and within 30 minutes more than 300 staff from the Royal Sun Alliance and More Than offices, along with 200 workers from Emap, had been evacuated. Police also cordoned off nearby roads.
Staff were not allowed back to their desks until almost three hours later.
Martyn Moore, editor of Emap's Classic Car magazine, which is based at Lynch Wood along with titles such as Max Power, said: "People walked through the offices telling everyone they needed to evacuate and we all left in an orderly fashion – there was no sense of panic.
"But it was quite inconvenient for a lot of people – we were on deadline for producing next week's magazines."
Maggie Willis (44), classified advertising manager for Emap, said: "It was quite frightening."
Police Sergeant Bob Lyman, who was called to the bomb-scare, praised the speed of the evacuation.
He said: "Royal Sun Alliance and Emap did an excellent job of clearing the building."
Sgt Lyman added: "It was probably just some crank who made the threat – sometimes you find these things are done by someone who has been sacked – but it was a stupid thing to do."
Temporary Chief Superintendent David Hankins said: "It's very irresponsible for people to be making malicious phone calls like this, particularly in the current climate, with the fears about terrorism."
Royal Sun
Alliance refused to comment about the bomb threat or the evacuation
of its offices.
24 March 2004, Peterborough Evening Alliance
Bomb Scare Sparks UK Rail Commuter Delay
Rail passengers faced rush-hour chaos today when Nottingham's Midland Station was evacuated in a bomb scare.
Commuters were delayed after a suspect bomb - which was a hoax - was discovered.
Police said a black briefcase with wires hanging from it was found near the station manager's office on platform three.
Bomb disposal experts were called at 7.45am, and took an X-ray of the briefcase before deciding it was not dangerous. The station was reopened at 9.45am.
Darren Field-Thomas, senior conductor manager for Central Trains, said: "A small package was found.
It was not a bomb, but looks like it had been created and planted to look like one."
Insp Chris
Connell, of British Transport Police, said: "If this was
done deliberately then it is very irresponsible behaviour and
weakens our ability to protect the public.''
22 March 2004, Nottingham Evening Post
Harmless Briefcase Prompts UK Station Evacuation
One of London's busiest railway stations was evacuated yesterday during the morning rush-hour as police dealt with a bomb scare, British Transport Police said.
Paddington Station was closed from 8.20am to 9.30am while police inspected what turned out to be a harmless briefcase in the left-luggage area, a police spokesman said.
"Trains are now running as normal," he said.
Paddington Station, in west London, serves destinations in the west of England. It is also the terminus of Heathrow Express shuttle trains from London's biggest international airport.
A customer service representative for Heathrow Express said its services were running again, though with some delays.
London's Metropolitan Police is urging the public to be on the lookout for suspicious packages or unattended luggage in the wake of the March 11 bombing of four trains in Madrid which killed more than 200 people.
Police deal
with about 15 bomb scares in the British capital every day, but
few prompt an evacuation.
24 March 2004, AFP News
Anthrax Scare in Mail at UK Mosque
Police told a Midland mosque leader to 'take a long shower' after he found himself at the centre of an anthrax scare.
Officers wearing protective suits eventually arrived at Tipton’s Wellington Road mosque, where the so-called Tipton Taliban used to worship, more than TWO HOURS after the alarm was raised.
A mystery white powder was taken away for further forensic analysis and no-one was harmed.
But a spokesman for the mosque last night criticised police for failing to take the scare seriously.
Mansoor Tariq said he was terrified when he opened a letter last week and a white powder blew into his face.
“It scared me even more when I read the letter and it said it contained anthrax,” he added.
“I immediately called the police and an officer said it was unlikely that it really was anthrax.
“He advised me and the imam, who had also touched the letter, to take a long shower and that help was on the way.”
The two-page typed letter also contained anti-Islamic literature which warned that further action would be taken against Muslims in the area.
“We have received quite a few of these types of racist letters in the past but never anything so serious,” said Mr Tariq.
“It was really vicious and talked of taking revenge on Muslims for the Madrid bombings.
“The
writer said Muslims would be killed in retaliation and that the
blood of Muslim children would be spilled like innocent blood
was spilled in Spain.
21 March 2004, Birmingham Post
Suspicious Package
in FedEX Drop-off
The Dona Ana County bomb squad continues to search a suspicious package for explosives.
The item was left in a FedEx mailing bin outside the downtown post office Friday.
The package was a coffee can with a note attached reading "death to those who open."
The man who allegedly left the package is described as a white male, 20 to 35 years old, with a medium to muscular build, a light-colored beard, and light brown hair.
He was last seen wearing a black leather jacket and a t-shirt with a skull and crossbones on the front.
20 March 2004, New Mexico Post
UK Post Offices May Use New Drug Detectors
Coventry's UK hub for Parcelforce could be the first to receive some of the new drug-detector scanners, if current trials of the technology prove successful.
Instead of sniffer dogs and x-ray machines, the netron detectors would be the latest weapon in the war on cocaine smuggling.
All mail bags arriving in Britain from Jamaica would be the first target following a successful clamp-down on "swallowers" - or human drugs mules - who are now increasingly being caught thanks to 'ion' scanners on the Caribbean island.
Customs and Excise spokesman Mark Powell said: "The success in stopping 'swallowers' has led to an increase in the use of mail routes to transport drugs through major hubs like Coventry, which deals with 11,000 items an hour.
"Right now we are still carrying out trials on these neutron scanners but if they live up to their reputation they will be a vital tool and the Coventry hub will be among the first places to get them."
Foreign Office minister Bill Rammell told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "We need to remember when we are dealing with the drugs industry, it is ingenious, it is illegal and it is well resourced. When we block off one route, it will try to develop another.
"There is a determination on both sides, inBritain and Jamaica, to really make a difference. We have done that with ion scanners at airports, which have had a huge impact on stopping the drugs mules.
"But there is a determination as well to look at other issues. We have been discussing training, intelligence sharing, maritime co-operation.
"But we also really do need to be looking at the postal service and we are doing that and developing the technology to try and help.
"We are dealing with a very changing, ingenious, illegal industry, and we have got to keep one step ahead of the game."
A spokeswoman for Royal Mail said: "Maintaining the security of our international network is, of course, a key priority.
"We work closely with Customs and Excise teams to ensure they have access to items of mail entering the country in order to inspect any packages which they believe may breach UK regulations.
"We also
work with other postal administrations around the world to ensure
that our mail pipelines are secure and not used for transporting
prohibited items."..SUPL:
19 March 2004, Trinity Mirror
Bomb Hoax Hits Paris-London Trains
A fake bomb near Paris held up rail traffic to northern France and London on Thursday, unsettling Europe's already jittery financial markets exactly a week after the devastating train bombings in Madrid.
The "bomb" turned out to be an empty oxygen canister.
Separately, British police said they had closed off part of a domestic rail line in southern England near the Channel Tunnel link to France and arrested a man under anti-terrorism laws.
French authorities said police were told by a telephone caller of a suspicious package on rail tracks north of Paris.
"It was one big joke," said a local government spokeswoman in the Val d'Oise region just north of Paris.
"The bomb disposal experts went to check it. It was empty."
A spokesman for the Eurostar passenger service that links Britain to continental Europe through the Channel Tunnel said there had been some delays on trains in and out of Paris.
It was a high profile example of the delays and disruptions being caused on rail and urban transport links across Europe by tightened security checks in the wake of the bombings in the Spanish capital that killed 201 people. Spain has arrested suspected Islamist militants it believes were behind the attack.
A spokeswoman for British police in the southeastern county of Kent said of the incident on their side of the Tunnel: "A section of the line was closed. One man was arrested under the terrorism laws and he is helping police with their inquiries."
She said a 35-year-old man was under arrest but the incident seemed less serious than it first seemed: "It is certainly looking not as frightening as it was three hours ago," she said.
The dollar,
which has suffered over renewed fear of terror attacks in the
United States after the Madrid bombings, slid in currency markets
after the news of the Eurostar alert. Stock markets were shaken
also.
18 March 2004, Reuters
UK Store Evacuated After Bomb Scare
Hundreds of shoppers and staff were evacuated from stores on a Suffolk industrial estate yesterday after a bomb scare.
The drama unfolded at 9.15am at the Copdock Retail Park, near Ipswich, when security officers were alerted to the suspect package in a car park.
The Bomb Disposal Squad from Colchester Garrison was called in to examine the find, while nearby shops Mothercare, Tesco and Burger King were evacuated at around 10.30am.
Police officers sealed off roads around the retail park, while fire crews waited on standby should the worst have happened.
A police spokesman said: "The Bomb Disposal Squad carried out a controlled explosion on the package.
"It was a holdall which was found by a car in one of the car parks in the area. As a precaution while that was happening, there was an evacuation of various stores.
"After
the package was blown up, various checks were done and it appears
that there was nothing suspicious about it."
18 March 2004, East Anglian Daily Times
UK Haulage Company Targeted on Internet by Animal Rights Group
A haulage company is being targeted by animal rights activists who claimed to have seen it making a delivery to a business involved in vivisection.
Campaigners from the People Against Cruelty to Animals (PACA) have published the name and address of Colchester-based hauliers B and E Hamblion (Transport) Ltd on the internet.
It also asked supporters to flood the company with letters and e-mails to “question their ethics”.
But the company's owner, Paul Hamblion, said he was against animal testing and added he “just wants to earn a living”.
The activists targeted the Colchester firm after demonstrators protesting outside a Herefordshire laboratory in January claimed to have seen a Hamblion truck entering the complex.
As part of its campaign against the laboratory owners, Sequani Ltd, PACA urged all suppliers to sever business links as a “matter of conscience”.
A spokesman for PACA said: “Hamblion were seen entering and leaving Sequani on the afternoon of January 12 in one of their huge freight lorries.
“They have been contacted numerous times via e-mail and letter regarding their dealings with the vivisectors, but refuse to reply.
“We ask companies that deal with Sequani to examine their ethics and to sever their links with animal cruelty as an act of compassion.
“Anyone spotted dealing with Sequani Ltd immediately becomes a target in our campaign as they are helping supply and maintain their vile industry.”
But Mr Hamblion said he had no direct contract with Sequani's operations in Ledbury and added deliveries had been made on behalf of another client.
“We're a third party. It's not our goods we deliver - we're nothing to do with the product,” he said. “We have a contract to pick up from our client in Colchester at a central point and are told to deliver to an end destination.
“I've seen a fax from these animal people. It's not blackmail, but I've put it to one side in case there's any trouble.
“I don't like animal testing and I'd rather keep a low profile. I just want to earn a living. I don't know what we are delivering.
“If it was hazardous we'd have to know, but sometimes we just pick up a load of palettes and we wouldn't have a clue what was in them - it could be toilet rolls or baked beans for all I know.”
A spokesman for Sequani Ltd said: “We test on animals for new human and veterinarian drugs.
“We test mostly on mice, rats as well as a few rabbits and dogs. We give them small dose injections and occasionally put drugs in their diets. It's fairly low-grade stuff and we certainly don't cut them open while they're alive.
“We get lots of deliveries from all over the country from different transport companies, but we do not have any account with Hamblion directly, although they could be being used by someone else.”
17 March
2004, East Anglian Daily Times
What
could trains learn from planes?
Everyone
is accustomed to tight security when they board aeroplanes, especially
since fears of terror attack were heightened. But are there lessons
from airport security that the train network could learn from?
For years, police have been planning for the possibility of a
terrorist attack on the UK's train and underground network.
Security alerts at the 2,500 mainline railway stations are an almost daily occurrence.
The authorities have so far stopped short of installing airport style screening of bags and passengers. But could last week's atrocity in Madrid force them to think again?
IF YOU SEE
AN UNATTENDED BAG
1. Ask other passengers if it belongs to them
2. If not, then immediately alert police or railway staff
3. If necessary dial 999
British Transport Police (BTP) says it has "looked seriously" at introducing routine baggage checks at mainline railway stations on a number of occasions.
BTP spokesman Simon Lubin says security is constantly under review; it wants to produce a "considered response" to the bombings in Madrid.
"We are
looking at all the options. You might see changes," he says.
T he
problem facing the authorities is that railway stations are virtually
impossible to make 100% secure.
Stations are large, open plan buildings, with multiple entry points.
Everything is designed to speed up the flow of passengers.
There are in theory few obstacles to planting a bomb on a train and then melting away into the crowd, or detonating it while it is strapped to your waist.
While it might be possible to install airport-style metal detectors and x-ray machines at mainline stations, on a busy rapid transit system like the London Underground, even the most cursory security check would cause instant gridlock.
And then there is the matter of whether Britain's already harassed commuters would be ready for a lengthy airport-style check-in every time they caught a train?
In any case, Network Rail argues that the extra waiting time and cost of the equipment would probably bankrupt the network.
Instead, the authorities are putting their faith in CCTV, police officers and public vigilance.
British Transport Police this week deployed plain-clothes intelligence-gathering officers "at key locations" on the UK rail and underground network.
The unarmed officers' main job is to "disrupt terrorists' planning operations" and keep an eye out for suspect packages, rather than spot potential suicide bombers.
"It is no use launching undercover officers against suicide bombers. They are not going to be able to stop someone with Semtex strapped to their waist," a BTP source says.
In the same way that undercover anti-theft officers learn to recognise pickpockets, it is hoped the plain clothes officers will learn to recognise potential terrorists, he adds.
BTP also plans to step up the number of "stop and search" operations it carries out on platforms, and it has launched a poster campaign urging increased vigilance.
At a time when the government is trying to increase police numbers, BTP is this year losing 50 officers.
The force has also refused to comment on reports it only had two specialist response vehicles - or "bomb vehicles" - to react to security alerts in London.
It has also said it is against the idea of armed guards on trains, similar to the "sky marshals" now found on some transatlantic flights.
"I think deploying armed guards is a very difficult thing to do. Once you have done it, you are very unlikely to be able to withdraw them," the BTP source says.
The idea would also be fiercely resisted by the rail unions. Shaun Brady, general secretary of train drivers union Aslef calls armed guards a "Hollywood-style reaction to a very real problem".
He says it is up to the government to encourage greater awareness of the threat, so they could be "our secret weapon against terrorism".
Some believe the answer to the terrorist threat lies in the deployment of cutting edge technology.
The Metropolitan Police is reportedly using "sniffer" devices to detect potential suicide bombers.
CCTV technology that can recognise and zoom in on individuals behaving unusually is also being developed, along with millimetre-wave x-ray machines, which provide 3-D images of passengers as they walk past.
But some experts warn there is a danger of becoming too reliant on technology, at the expense of greater public vigilance.
"The companies that sell this sort of kit are very good at talking it up. They are not living in the real world," says Jane's Aviation Security editor Chris Yates.
Much hope has been invested in facial recognition technology but trials have proved disappointing, he argues.
"The trials that have been carried since 11 September in the US with that kit at various airports have failed miserably to live up to their promise."
Briefcase-sized vapour particle detectors could be used to improve security at railway stations, but they are only as effective as the staff trained to use them.
A more simple and effective measure, argues Chris Yates, is to bring back manned ticket barriers.
"We have lost that checkpoint just before you get down to the platform. Train stations have become more open plan.
"Anybody can walk in and walk on to the platform and get on the trains," he adds.
He believes we have become "too complacent" about the terror threat in the UK, perhaps believing that past experience of the IRA has made us better able to prevent an attack.
Everyone will
be hoping that it will not take an attack on mainland Britain
to bring home the true scale of the threat.
19 March 2004,
BBC
UK
Police probe suspect packages
British police are examining four suspicious packages containing
white powder that were sent to diplomatic addresses in London,
Scotland Yard said Monday.
The Saudi Embassy in London was among the sites that received a package.
Police are working to determine what the substance is. Scotland Yard said initial tests "suggest that the contents are non-hazardous but fuller tests are yet to be completed."
A Royal Mail spokeswoman said it had been made aware of the packages and said that police are dealing with the matter.
"The safety of our staff is paramount and we have procedures for dealing with any mail that employees consider suspicious," she said.
"We would work with police to help them with their investigations."
The Saudi Embassy in London issued a statement saying that a sealed envelope arrived there Monday morning "containing white powder."
"The embassy contacted the British authorities, who dealt with the matter on the spot," the statement said.
"The embassy has taken all the precautionary measures for the protection and safety of its employees."
The locations of the other three diplomatic sites that received the suspicious packages were not given.
Working with security and emergency services, the Royal Mail developed a response plan to suspicious packages after the anthrax mailings in the United States in the fall of 2001.
Anthrax-laced letters were sent to various media organizations and congressional offices in the United States. Five people died as a result of exposure to the bacteria.
16 March 2004,
CNN
At
least 173 reported dead in Madrid blasts
At least 173 people are reported to have
been killed during five rush hour explosions on Madrid's rail
network, including the main Atocha station.
The blasts, blamed on Basque separatist organisation ETA ahead of Sunday's general elections, tore through packed trains en route to Atocha and the El Pozo and Santa Eugenia stations. Around 400 people are said to have been injured.
Arnaldo Otegi, the leader of banned radical political party Batasuna, said he does not believe "even as a hypothesis" that ETA is responsible, adding that they could have been "an operation by sectors of the Arab resistance".
When asked if the Islamic militant group al-Qaeda could have been behind the attack, Interior Minister Angel Acebes said: "We do not rule anything out."
No warning was given prior to the blasts. Television pictures showed one train ripped apart in two places as police and rescue services helped scores of badly injured people away from the scene.
Queues of people are reported to be arriving at local hospitals to donate blood. Emergency numbers have been released for worried relatives - 00 34 900 200 222 and 00 34 915 767 000.
"There are dozens of victims...and the killers are trying to sow even more terror, spreading chaos," Eduardo Zaplana, labour minister and official government spokesman, said.
"This is a collective killing by the criminal band which is ETA,"
In London, Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said he had already spoken to his Spanish counterpart to express "the British Government's shock and condolences in the face of these outrages".
He said: "I have told her that the British people sadly have had similar experiences of such disgusting terrorist atrocities and that we stand shoulder to shoulder with the Spanish people and government in the fight against this kind of terrorism."
Mr Straw added: "This atrocity comes just a few days before the Spanish general election so we have all to recognise that these atrocities are a disgusting assault on the very principle of European democracy."
If ETA (Euskadi ta Askatasuna) is responsible, it will be the worst attack ever by the group, exceeding the 21 killed in a supermarket blast in Barcelona in 1987.
Less than two weeks ago police arrested two suspected ETA members who were heading for Madrid with a van containing 500 kg (1,100lbs) of explosives, averting a possible massacre in the capital.
ETA has killed around 850 people since 1968 in its fight for Basque independence and has been a looming presence over the run-up to the elections.
Last month,
ETA declared a ceasefire limited to the northeastern region of
Catalonia but made clear it would pursue the armed struggle in
the rest of the country.
11th March
2004, NTL
Ricin Scare Changes How Congress Gets Mail
Rain, sleet, snow and hail may not daunt the U.S. Postal Service, but on Capitol Hill, trace amounts of ricin have wreaked havoc on mail delivery.
After the toxic substance was discovered in the office of Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., in February, Capitol police halted mail delivery to all congressional offices.
Then, in a letter to members of Congress, U.S. House Sergeant at Arms Bill Livingood outlined a new mail procedure in which a private company would open and inspect all mail at an off-site facility before sending it on to members' offices.
Although mail delivery has since resumed, House officials estimate there is a backlog of about 600,000 pieces of mail.
However, some members have expressed concern that the new delivery procedures might compromise the integrity of correspondence between constituents and elected officials.
"Constituents and others writing to Congress have a right to know that the thoughts and ideas expressed in a letter are private and will be read only by the intended recipient," Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, wrote in a letter to House officials.
He added that having a private company open the letters -- Pitney Bowes for the House -- exacerbates the privacy violation.
Congressional aides have estimated the site change would add at least three days to delivery schedules in the House and one day in the Senate, according to the Congressional Quarterly, a weekly magazine that chronicles happenings on Capitol Hill.
In the meantime, North Carolina officials are asking their constituents to contact them via fax or e-mail in order to circumvent the delays created by the new process.
Bridgett Lowell, an aide for Rep. David Price, D-4th District, said the volume of regular mail has declined precipitously since the ricin scare.
She estimated
that Price receives, on average, 100 to 125 e-mails each day,
75 to 100 faxes and 25 to 50 letters. Faxes, in particular, have
increased of late, she added.
5 March 2004, Herald News
20,000 Disruptions at Post Offices Due to Suspicious Powder
Since the anthrax attacks in 2001, work at the nation's post offices has been disrupted by more than 20,000 incidents of suspicious powder coming from envelopes and packages.
All but a few have turned out to be soap, dust, talc or other nonlethal substances. Sand was the culprit in one incident, included in wedding invitations for a beach ceremony.
Still, the scares have taken a toll in nerves, lost time and money.
The anthrax attacks, which killed two postal workers, and the more recent ricin cases are keeping postal workers alert and suspicious of unknown materials.
"A person will see something on a machine, the floor, a case, leaking out of an envelope or box," said Patrick Donahoe, the U.S. Postal Service's chief operating officer.
After someone reports a suspicious package, the area is sealed off and local hazardous materials teams and the Postal Inspection Service are called in, he said.
On Feb. 11,
for example, three post offices in Petersburg, Va., were closed
after white powder was seen coming from a package addressed to
Geneva, Switzerland. The sender, a woman, had told a postal worker
that the package contained perfume. A Fort Lee decontamination
team, equipped with oil drums and chemical suits, responded. Police
cordoned off two blocks, and three postal workers and one firefighter
received medical treatment as a precaution. Testing ruled out
dangerous materials.
5 March 2004, UP
Suspicious Powder Found at Miami Port
Customs warehouse at the port of Miami was evacuated Thursday after the discovery of a package containing a white powdery substance.
"We received a call this morning regarding a white powdery substance that was spotted in the Customs warehouse,'' port spokeswoman Andria Muñiz told the Miami Herald.
"As a precaution the building was evacuated, and the fire department and Miami-Dade police, as well as federal authorities, are investigating," she said.
WFOR-CBS4
reported that the powder is being tested for ricin, one of the
most poisonous naturally occurring substances known to man. As
little as one milligram can kill an adult.
4 March 2004, UPI
There was yet another bomb scare at the Law Courts on Wednesday morning, Labour's spokesperson for justice and home affairs Angelo Farrugia said.
Dr Farrugia said that this has become a common thing at the Law Courts and is passing by as if nothing happened, but is nonetheless causing a huge loss of time and energy for everybody.
He called
on the Nationalist government to invest in a modern system that
would cater for these circumstances and not permit bomb scares
to wreck havoc in the Law Courts.
4 March 2004, Di-Ve News
Explosive Device Found in Montreal Hotel
Dozens were evacuated from Complexe Desjardins Tuesday night after an explosive device was discovered in an elevator at the Hyatt Regency hotel.
Police would not call the device a bomb because it was not set to go off at a specific time.
The area around Complexe Desjardins was cordoned off for much of the evening while police worked to defuse the package.
"We made a first approach with a robot and basically detonated the package, causing damage to the elevator but no one was hurt, fortunately," said Robert Manseuto, a Montreal police spokesperson.
Police have no idea who put the device in the elevator or why.
"Basically,
it's a mystery to us," said Mansueto.
3 March 2004, Canada Times
Animal Rights Activists 'Make Threats to Stars'
Police are investigating claims that animal rights activists are inciting violence and firebomb attacks on several high-profile figures involved in country sports. Jamie Oliver, Sting and Billy Connolly are among 100 celebrities whose names, addresses and phone numbers have been posted on the internet by extremists.
The website, titled Celebrity Bloodsports Scum, calls them "twisted perverts and walking advertisements for eugenics".
An earlier version read: "These people do not live in fireproof houses. They're not immortal".
A group called Badgers Unknown is thought to be responsible.
The Met refused
to comment on Special Branch operations.
3 March 2004, Evening Standard