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POISON WATER TERROR FEARS

May 27 2003

EXCLUSIVE

By Bob Roberts Political Correspondent

 

WATER supplies are in the frontline of a feared terror offensive on Britain, it emerged yesterday.

A major water company has warned customers of "third party damage" that could disrupt the system.

And there are suspicions that a six-strong al-Qaeda cell known to be on the loose here may be planning to contaminate supplies with poison.

Experts say pumping stations and pipelines are vulnerable to attack - with the London network an especially easy target.

Water consultant Hugh Allan warned: "Anyone who is halfway determined can get into a pumping station.

"There are only basic security measures. Fundamentally, they are designed to be vandal-resistant and not anti-terrorist.

"Within a pumping station, there are several vulnerable points where someone could get access to the water and introduce an agent."

Water firms across the country have been urged to tighten security and offered advice by MI5.

Scottish Water has been ordered to build new perimeter fences around the Mugdock reservoir in Milngavie, which supplies most of Glasgow's drinking water.

Cuts in supplies would cripple hospitals, schools and business.

Disease could spread rapidly without fresh water for cooking and cleaning. Poisoned water - possibly from cyanide, ricin or cholera bacteria - could be drunk for days before the danger became apparent.

In an alert this month, Thames Water issued "business resilience advice" to customers

It said "No water supply is infallible, there may be disruptions because of third party damage.

"The network in London has felt the indirect impact of terrorist bombs in the past. In most cases an alternative source can be provided through the network, but on occasions the supply may fail."

Hospitals, prisons and care homes would then get priority for fresh supplies, said Thames. It outlined its emergency plans on a little-known Government website about international terrorism.

Businesses were urged to take precautionary measures by checking storage tanks and fitting low-water alarms.

Fears of poisoning were heightened last weekend when intelligence documents warned that a group of Islamic militants was at large in the UK.

The cell, at least six in number, is said to be working on a plot to contaminate water.

Plans for an attack, possibly involving suicide bombers, have been drawn up by the group based in London and Luton.

It is part of the al-Tauhid organisation, which advocates a holy war and is blamed for a series of terror assaults over the last three years.

The cell's operations in Hamburg have been disrupted.

Contaminating supplies could be as easy as a direct attack on a pumping station, say experts. Andy Oppenheimer, a terrorism expert for Jane's Defence Journal, said: "A binful of cyanide would cause thousands of people to become incapacitated.

"And there are hundreds of cheap and easily available chemicals that would do the same."

London is seen as high risk because its water is fed from a single pipe, the 50-mile London Ring Main.

The network, big enough to drive a black cab through, circles the capital 40 metres below ground and supplies five million people a day. Yet access points are unguarded and security measures light.

Water firms would be unlikely to pick up poisoning until people became ill. It would then take weeks for the supply to be stopped, systems cleaned, checked and re-started.

Thousands of businesses would be badly affected by any disruption.

Food manufacturers use thousands of gallons a day for washing and preparing meals.

Restaurants, pubs and breweries would all have to close.

The authorities also fear that panic buying of bottled water by a public unused to dealing with shortages could cause chaos. A senior Home Office source said it took all threats seriously and was constantly updating advice.

The Government has said it has no "specific" intelligence about a planned attack by al-Qaeda.

But a security clampdown around key sites has been put in place in recent weeks.

A ring of concrete blockades was erected outside Parliament to stop truck bombers.

Machine-gun patrols were stepped up at strategic points such as Heathrow airport.

Days ago Osama bin Laden's deputy, Ayman al-Zawahri, called on Muslims to attack British and American targets.

Police will be granted extra powers next week in a Government Bill on the response to terrorist incidents.

Expectations that Britain will be targeted have grown since the war against Iraq.

Before Parliament's barricades went up, the Prime Minister was told at meetings of the emergency Cobra committee that it would make sense to seal off the Palace of Westminster.

Some of the royal palaces, particularly St James's, are seen as an easy target. So too are many of the government buildings around Whitehall.

 
 

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