Officials admit doubts over chemical plot: Intelligence behind terror raid questioned as proof remains elusive
Richard Norton-Taylor and Vikram Dodd Monday June 5, 2006
Counter-terrorism officials conceded yesterday that lethal chemical devices they feared had been stored at an east London house raided on Friday may never have existed.
Confidence among officials appeared to be waning as searches at the address continued to yield no evidence of a plot for an attack with cyanide or other chemicals. A man was shot during the raid, adding to pressure on the authorities for answers about the accuracy of the intelligence that led them to send 250 officers to storm the man's family home at dawn.
Officials are not yet prepared to admit the intelligence was wrong. But there is diminishing optimism that it will be shown to wholly or even partially correct. Speaking of the feared chemical devices, one official said: "They might be elsewhere or never existed."
The raid, at 4am on Friday, was launched after MI5 received intelligence from an informant of the existence of a viable chemicial device at the property, which was to be used in an attack in Britain with the potential for substantial loss of life.
During the raid a 23-year-old Muslim man was shot, and he and his brother were arrested on suspicion of terrorism. ...
<http://www.guardian.co.uk/frontpage/story/0,,1790444,00.html>
Carl