Man charged under Terrorism Act

icbirmingham.icnetwork.co.uk Feb 17 2003   A 37-year-old man has been charged under the Terrorism Act after a hand grenade was allegedly found in his luggage at Gatwick Airport.

Scotland Yard said Hasil Mohammed Rahaham-Alan was charged with three offences following his arrest on a British Airways jet from Venezuela.

These charges include possessing an article for the purpose of committing a terrorist act.

He is due to appear at London's Bow Street Magistrates Court to be formally charged tomorrow.

Rahaham-Alan was arrested by Sussex Police before being taken to a central London police station to be quizzed by detectives from Scotland Yard's Anti-Terrorist Branch.

Passengers at Gatwick were immediately evacuated from the airport's North Terminal following the incident and outbound flights were suspended.

The terminal remained closed for several hours from around lunchtime until it was reopened at 7.45pm that evening.

At the time the country was on high alert with light tanks and more than 400 soldiers being deployed at Heathrow airport amid fears that terrorists were planning an attack.