GATWICK GRENADE MAN ID'D
The identity of a Venezuelan man who smuggled a live grenade onto a flight to Gatwick airport has been revealed.
He is Rahaman Alan Hazil Mohammad, 40, Venezuelan authorities said, but British officials denied reports he was carrying a Koran in his suitcase or that he came from Bangladesh, which some analysts claim has become a hotbed of Islamic militancy.
Anti-terrorist police said he had visited a number of "sensitive countries" before his arrest and are continuing to quiz him at at the high-security Paddington Green police station in west London.
Security scares
He was arrested on Thursday after he flew economy class on a British Airways jet he had boarded in the Venezuelan capital of Caracas.
It was just one of a number of security scares which prompted the dramatic deployment of troops and armoured vehicles at key London airports.
Police arrested eight suspects in separate incidents, including two men at Leeds/Bradford airport, four men in Langley, Berkshire and two men in the Hounslow area.
Scotland Yard has refused to confirm the grenade suspect's name, but said they were liaising with South American authorities and would fly out to Venezuela if necessary.
The US Department of State says Islamic extremist groups have long operated on Venezuela's Margarita Island, which is home to a large Middle Eastern population, many of whom work in the oil industry.