N-BOMB RED ALERT COP DIRTY BOMB ALERT - Special nuclear attack training given to Scots police

www.dailyrecord.co.uk Feb 17 2003 Magnus Gardham

POLICE in Scotland have had "dirty bomb" training, it was revealed yesterday.

The Executive confirmed officers in all eight Scots forces have received extra training to ensure they are prepared for a chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear attack.

The news emerged after police chiefs down south said all forces in England and Wales would have at least one trained and equipped unit by the end of May.

An Executive spokeswoman said: "Appropriate provision is in place across the Scottish police forces to respond to terrorist incidents.

"There are trained officers within each force, but it is expected that the two largest - Lothian and Borders and Strathclyde - would provide support to smaller forces as appropriate."

The news came as London's police chief warned the risk of al-Qaeda attacks in Britain was high.

Meanwhile, a 37-year-old Venezuelan man was charged last night under the Terrorism Act after a hand grenade was found in his luggage as he arrived at Gatwick Airport last week.

Metropolitan Police commissioner Sir John Stevens dismissed suggestions that a hoax was to blame for the terror alert which saw tanks at Heathrow and heightened security at other airports around the country over the past week.

He said the Government's emergency planning committee, codenamed Cobra, was meeting daily to assess the level of threat and did not believe the danger of terror attacks was over.

And he confirmed there were concerns at the highest levels that ground-to-air missile-launchers had been smuggled into the UK and could be used to shoot down aeroplanes taking off or landing at British airports.

Transport Secretary Alistair Darling also warned similar security alerts could be expected at airports in the future. He said: "We will just have to make judgments from time to time, based on the advice we get from the security services, as to what level of alert there has to be in airports, in railway stations, on the Tube and in other places that could be the subject of attacks by terrorists.

"What we saw last week is an example of what I am afraid we are going to see from time to time."

Sir John, when asked how many al-Qaeda cells were operating in the UK, said: "It is very difficult to know, but we do know that there is a substantial presence and we are taking action in relation to those. The threat is still high. What we do every day is analyse the threat and meet that threat with whatever resources necessary."

Police last night confirmed they had charged Hasil Mohammed Rahaham-Alan, allegedly found with a grenade at Gatwick, with three offences - including possessing an article for the purpose of committing a terrorist act.

He holds a Venezuelan passport, is known to the country's authorities and has visited "sensitive countries" in the last few months. It is understood Scotland Yard officers plan to fly to Venezuela to establish whether he has any al- Qaeda links. He is being held at the high-security Paddington Green police station in west London.

The US Department of State has said Islamic extremist groups have long operated on Venezuela's Margarita Island, which is home to a large population from the Middle East, many of them oil workers.

Three men arrested near airports in England have been handed over to the immigration authorities, while five other suspects were released without charge.

Meanwhile, a convoy of Britons preparing to act as human shields arrived in Iraq yesterday. The activists have pledged to force the US and UK to bomb their own people in the event of military action.

The Truth Justice Peace Human Shield Action group travelled 3000 miles from London on double- decker buses.

More than 75 members are now in Baghdad, including Stevan Allen from Edinburgh. Spokesman Torben Franck said: "All have arrived safe and sound, if somewhat exhausted by a journey which took eight days longer than planned."