Grenade find at Gatwick

www.thescotsman.co.uk GETHIN CHAMBERLAIN THE discovery of a live grenade in the luggage of a passenger arriving at Gatwick airport and the arrest of two people near Heathrow airport yesterday added to the state of heightened tension over the risk of an al-Qaeda terrorist attack on Britain.

The incidents came amid intense political wrangling in advance of today’s crucial meeting of the United Nations Security Council in New York, with the United States and Britain urging other nations to hold their nerve and claiming the discovery that Iraq possessed long-range missiles, in breach of UN resolutions, proved Baghdad was intent on defying the will of the international community.

The Home Office initially played down the grenade incident, claiming "it is not uncommon for people in airports to be discovered with some form of weaponry" and adding: "It doesn’t mean they are all al-Qaeda terrorists".

But David Blunkett, the Home Secretary, was quick to seize on the incident as proof Britain was facing a real terrorist threat.

He said: "It reinforces that we really do have a problem as people have been saying that it doesn’t exist."

Earlier, Mr Blunkett had repeated his warning that Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaeda network posed a serious threat to the country’s security.

He warned: "We know that al-Qaeda will try to inflict loss of human life and damage on the UK."

The grenade was discovered in the luggage of a 37-year-old Venezuelan man who arrived from Bogata, in Colombia, yesterday afternoon on a British Airways Boeing 777 with 125 passengers on board.

BA said that although all baggage was screened before it was loaded on to its aircraft, the grenade was not detected until the man arrived at Customs at Gatwick.

The discovery prompted the immediate evacuation and closure of the airport’s north terminal and the man was taken to London for questioning by Metropolitan Police anti-terrorist officers.

But the Home Office said police needed time to assess "whether this was anything more than a lone individual carrying something he shouldn’t have been".

Venezuela is not noted as a hotbed of anti-western terrorism and although the Foreign Office advice on visiting the country includes warnings on kidnapping, piracy, street crime and an unstable political situation, it adds: "We are unaware of any evidence of a threat to western interests from terrorism in Venezuela."

The other arrests came after police stopped a car in Hounslow, near Heathrow airport, to question two men under anti-terrorism legislation . The pair were last night being questioned at a police station in west London.

With the international community split over the need for military action against Iraq, the US and Britain spent much of yesterday attempting to rally support for war in advance of the report by Hans Blix, the chief UN weapons inspector, to the Security Council.

George Bush, the US president, urged sceptical allies to "show backbone and courage" and stand up to Saddam Hussein. He said: "I believe when it’s all said and done, free nations will not allow the United Nations to fade into history as an ineffective, irrelevant debating society. I am optimistic that the UN Security Council will rise to its responsibilities and, this time, ensure enforcement of what it told Saddam Hussein he must do."

Jack Straw, the Foreign Secretary, said there could be "no illusions that this means disarmament by force". He said: "For the international community now to lose its nerve would significantly undermine the authority of the UN and make the world a much more dangerous place ."

And Tony Blair, the Prime Minister, said it would be highly significant if Mr Blix confirmed that Iraq had missiles with a longer range than permitted under previous UN resolutions.

"It indicates the futility of simply going on with more and more and more time, when it’s perfectly obvious they’re not co-operating," he said.

But Tariq Aziz, the Iraqi deputy prime minister, in Italy to meet the Pope, dismissed suggestions that Baghdad’s Al-Samoud II missiles breached UN rules and accused the US of planning to invade Iraq to dominate the Middle East and its oil.

Donald Rumsfeld, the US defence secretary, increased the pressure on Iraq, refusing to rule out the US use of nuclear weapons in any war. He told a Senate committee: "Our policy historically has been generally that we will not foreclose the possible use of nuclear weapons if attacked."

When Mr Blix delivers his report today, London and Washington will be looking for confirmation that Iraq remains in material breach of its obligations to disarm, but they face strong opposition from the anti-war camp within the UN by France and Germany, who could block a fresh Security Council resolution authorising military intervention.

NATO, too, remained split, putting on hold its wrangling over how and when to offer Turkey assistance in defending itself from Iraqi attack in the even of war until after the Security Council meeting.

Meanwhile, Jack McConnell, the First Minister, moved to reassure the Scottish public, insisting that while the UK as a whole remained at risk, Scotland did not face any specific terrorist threat.