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.

www.itv.com Hasil Mohammed Rahaham-Alan, 37, is charged with having explosives with intent to endanger life or damage property

11.33AM GMT, 17 Feb 2003

A man arrested at Gatwick Airport allegedly with a live hand grenade in his luggage has been remanded in custody after a brief court appearance.

Hasil Mohammed Rahaham-Alan, 37, faces three charges in connection with the alleged discovery by customs officers.

He appeared before London's Bow Street Magistrates Court but did not enter a plea.

Rahaham-Alan was stopped by customs officers on Thursday after arriving on a British Airways flight he had boarded in the Venezuelan capital of Caracas.

He was quizzed throughout the weekend by detectives from Scotland Yard's Anti-Terrorist Branch, who have been liaising with their counterparts in South America.

The US Department of State has said Venezuela's Margarita Island is home to a large expatriate population from the Middle East, many of whom work in the oil industry.

Following the incident, passengers at Gatwick were evacuated from the airport's North Terminal and outbound flights were suspended.

The terminal remained closed for several hours, at a time when the country was on high alert with light tanks and more than 400 soldiers being deployed at Heathrow airport amid fears of attack.

www.guardian.co.uk Jeevan Vasagar Monday February 17, 2003 The Guardian

The man allegedly caught with a hand grenade at Gatwick airport has been charged under the Terrorism Act, Scotland Yard said last night. He will appear before Bow Street magistrates in London today.

The 37-year-old Venezuelan is charged with possession of an article for committing a terrorist act, possession of an explosive substance with intent to endanger life or damage property, and carrying a dangerous article on a British-registered aircraft.

Earlier he was named by Venezuelan authorities as Rahaman Alan Hazil Mohammad. The Venezuelan ambassador, Alfredo Toro-Hardy, said a copy of his passport had been sent to Caracas to check its validity.

The envoy denied links between his country and Islamist terrorism. "Venezuela is a country in the western hemisphere that has no relation with the Islamist movement," he said. "There may be some individuals who may have some personal position, as was the case with [the shoe bomber] Richard Reid, who was an Englishman."

He also insisted Venezuelan airport security was good.

Anti-terrorist officers were yesterday still questioning Mr Mohammad, who was arrested on Thursday after he arrived on a British Airways flight from Caracas. He was in custody at the high-security Paddington Green police station in west London. Scotland Yard refused to confirm the suspect's name.

The Metropolitan police commissioner, Sir John Stevens, said yesterday that al-Qaida terrorists had a "substantial presence" in Britain, and the risk of attacks remained high.

While most of the security work needed to thwart the terrorists had to go on in secrecy, some successes had been achieved. Eight arrests had been made near airports in England last week.

www.sky.com

A man whose luggage allegedly contained a hand grenade when he landed at Gatwick Airport was remanded in custody when he appeared in a London court.

Hasil Mohammed Rahaham-Alan, a 37-year-old Venezuelan, was remanded until February 24 when he appeared at Bow Street Magistrates Court charged under the Terrorism Act.

He was stopped by Customs officers on Thursday after arriving on a British Airways flight he had boarded in the Venezuelan capital, Caracas.

Interpreter

He has been charged with possession of an article for the purpose of committing a terrorist act, possession of an explosive substance with intent to endanger life or damage property and carrying a dangerous article on a British-registered aircraft.

Rahaham-Alan, bearded and with long, black hair, walked into court dressed in a baggy blue jumper.

He sat in the dock with a single police officer and a female Spanish interpreter during the five-minute hearing. Police van carrying suspect

His lawyer, Peter Corrigan, said he could understand the proceedings in English but the interpreter would provide clarification if necessary.

Flights suspended

Rahaham-Alan, whose occupation is unknown, stood and spoke in a barely audible voice as he gave his full name and date of birth to the court.

He was questioned throughout the weekend by detectives from Scotland Yard's Anti-Terrorist Branch who have been liaising with their counterparts in South America.

Following the alleged grenade discovery, passengers at Gatwick were evacuated from the North Terminal and outbound flights were suspended.

District Judge Nicholas Evans ended the hearing by telling the defendant that he was transferring the case to the Old Bailey under Section 51 of the Crime and Disorder Act.

There was no application for bail.

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."