Italy suspects could have made lethal gas-experts
Date: 25-Feb-02
Country: ITALY
Author: Luke Baker
Italian police sources said the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation was working closely with them to track the suspects' movements. They hope to establish whether the men had links to Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network.
The Moroccans were detained on Tuesday with four kg (8.8 lbs) of what investigators identified as potassium ferrocyanide, as well as maps of Rome pinpointing the U.S. embassy and charts of the city's water network.
"If you put potassium ferrocyanide in contact with a strong acid it will release hydrogen cyanide," Dr Anthony Bellamy of the Royal Military College of Sciences at Cranfield University in England told Reuters.
"Hydrogen cyanide is extremely toxic and odourless, and lethal even in small doses. It can kill quickly."
Scientists at Cambridge University's chemical laboratories supported that analysis, adding that 8.8 lbs of the compound added to sulphuric acid would have been enough to kill many people, depending on the concentration.
There was no indication those arrested had access to sulphuric acid or any other strong agent. They were being held on suspicion of receiving stolen property. One, interrogated for three hours on Wednesday, denied any wrongdoing.
Potassium ferrocyanide alone is virtually harmless and can be used in gardening or producing inks and dyes.
Hydrogen cyanide, on the other hand, is usually included among the ranks of chemical warfare agents, although there are no confirmed cases of it ever being used. Iraq is alleged to have used it in its war against Iran during the 1980s.
U.S. INTERESTED IN "THESE GUYS"
Italian officials originally suggested the suspects might have been planning to pour cyanide into Rome's aqueducts. Their maps also indicated access points to the U.S. embassy's water supply.
After quashing initial alarm at the possibility of Rome's water supply being poisoned, investigators turned their attention to the links the four suspects may have had to bin Laden, Washington's chief suspect in the September 11 suicide attacks in the United States that killed more than 3,000 people.
"We're very interested in these guys, in finding out exactly what they're part of and who they are linked to. We want to know how capable they were," said a U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Italian security forces have been on high alert since the September attacks and the United States warned in October that Italy was especially vulnerable to a terror attack.
Italy entered the spotlight in the fight against bin Laden after U.S. investigators said they believed Milan's Islamic cultural centre was al Qaeda's main European logistics base. Muslim leaders in Italy have denied the charge.
Seven Tunisians are on trial in Milan as part of a crackdown on groups suspected of ties to bin Laden. They are suspected of plotting to attack the U.S. embassy in January 2001.
Justice sources last year released transcripts of telephone conversations in which one of the Tunisians on trial in Milan indicated that he was planning chemical attacks.
