Police arrest man at Heathrow with suspected ammunition

LONDON, Jan 14, 2004 (AP) — A Sudanese man was arrested at Heathrow Airport under the Terrorism Act on Wednesday on suspicion of possessing ammunition, police said.

The 45-year-old man had arrived on a Virgin Atlantic flight from Washington D.C. and was in transit, a spokesman for London’s Metropolitan Police said.

The flight originated at Washington’s Dulles International Airport.

The Sudanese 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.

Police later said they were holding the man under a provision of the 2000 anti-terrorism legislation that covers alleged involvement in the commission, preparation or instigation of terror acts.

They said the man would be interviewed by anti-terrorism officers in central London, but did not immediately provide any other details.

Police had said earlier that they were not treating the incident as terrorist-related but would question the suspect.

A spokesman for BAA PLC, which operates Heathrow, said the man was trying to board a flight to Dubai when he was arrested.

Chris Yates, an aviation security expert for the Jane’s publishing group, said the arrest highlighted continuing problems with American air security.

“There is an impression with all the rhetoric that the U.S. 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.

The route between Washington and London was the subject of heavy scrutiny recently. Authorities canceled a British Airways flight from Heathrow to Dulles airport on two consecutive days because of security concerns, and it suffered hours-long delays for days afterwards. That alert was specific to one flight, BA223, and did not affect other planes on the same route.