A Sudanese man who flew from Washington to London on Wednesday was arrested on suspicion of possessing ammunition and involvement in an act of terrorism, police said.
The 45-year-old man arrived at Heathrow Airport on a Virgin Atlantic flight from Washington's Dulles International Airport and was in transit when he was arrested, a spokesman for London's Metropolitan Police said.
The man was initially arrested under Section 1 of the Firearms Act after passing through a security check, the police spokesman said. He did not describe the suspected ammunition but said it was undergoing forensic tests.
Later, airport security sources said that five bullets had been discovered when the man passed through the security checkpoint.
The sources said police ballistics experts were examining the bullets to see if they were live and usable.
Police later arrested the man under a provision of the 2000 anti-terrorism legislation that covers alleged involvement in the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terror.
They said the man would be interviewed by anti-terrorism officers in central London, but did not immediately provide any other details.
A spokesman for BAA PLC, which operates Heathrow, said the man was trying to board a flight to Dubai when he was arrested.
In Washington the US Transportation Security Administration, in charge of airport security, said the plane had arrived in London after "an uneventful flight" and pointed out that "the situation under investigation arose while the passenger was undergoing security screening prior to boarding a connecting flight at Heathrow.
``During the process, several pieces of ammunition were discovered in the man's possession," agency spokeswoman Chris Rhatigan said.
She said that the agency was working with its "international airline and law enforcement partners to investigate" the incident.
Chris Yates, an aviation security expert for the Jane's publishing group, said the arrest highlighted continuing problems with air security in the US.
"There is an impression with all the rhetoric that the US now has the best security in the world and it can stop anything, anytime -- but it didn't stop a bunch of ammunition getting on a plane from Washington to London, did it?" he said.
David Learmount, of Flight International magazine, said that security depended heavily on airport screeners' vigilance.
"You only need vigilance to lapse for one piece of luggage and that bag gets through," he said.
PRECARIOUS RELATIONS: Commentators in Saudi Arabia accuse the UAE of growing too bold, backing forces at odds with Saudi interests in various conflicts A Saudi Arabian media campaign targeting the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has deepened the Gulf’s worst row in years, stoking fears of a damaging fall-out in the financial heart of the Middle East. Fiery accusations of rights abuses and betrayal have circulated for weeks in state-run and social media after a brief conflict in Yemen, where Saudi airstrikes quelled an offensive by UAE-backed separatists. The United Arab Emirates is “investing in chaos and supporting secessionists” from Libya to Yemen and the Horn of Africa, Saudi Arabia’s al-Ekhbariya TV charged in a report this week. Such invective has been unheard of
‘TERRORIST ATTACK’: The convoy of Brigadier General Hamdi Shukri resulted in the ‘martyrdom of five of our armed forces,’ the Presidential Leadership Council said A blast targeting the convoy of a Saudi Arabian-backed armed group killed five in Yemen’s southern city of Aden and injured the commander of the government-allied unit, officials said on Wednesday. “The treacherous terrorist attack targeting the convoy of Brigadier General Hamdi Shukri, commander of the Second Giants Brigade, resulted in the martyrdom of five of our armed forces heroes and the injury of three others,” Yemen’s Saudi Arabia-backed Presidential Leadership Council said in a statement published by Yemeni news agency Saba. A security source told reporters that a car bomb on the side of the road in the Ja’awla area in
US President Donald Trump on Saturday warned Canada that if it concludes a trade deal with China, he would impose a 100 percent tariff on all goods coming over the border. Relations between the US and its northern neighbor have been rocky since Trump returned to the White House a year ago, with spats over trade and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney decrying a “rupture” in the US-led global order. During a visit to Beijing earlier this month, Carney hailed a “new strategic partnership” with China that resulted in a “preliminary, but landmark trade agreement” to reduce tariffs — but
SCAM CLAMPDOWN: About 130 South Korean scam suspects have been sent home since October last year, and 60 more are still waiting for repatriation Dozens of South Koreans allegedly involved in online scams in Cambodia were yesterday returned to South Korea to face investigations in what was the largest group repatriation of Korean criminal suspects from abroad. The 73 South Korean suspects allegedly scammed fellow Koreans out of 48.6 billion won (US$33 million), South Korea said. Upon arrival in South Korea’s Incheon International Airport aboard a chartered plane, the suspects — 65 men and eight women — were sent to police stations. Local TV footage showed the suspects, in handcuffs and wearing masks, being escorted by police officers and boarding buses. They were among about 260 South
RSS