Ricin 'made for use in random killing spree'

Security services fear a network of terrorist assassination squads has been set up across Europe to carry out random killings using exotic poisons. The method is designed to maximise panic and fear.

European intelligence sources have told The Independent on Sunday they are "extremely concerned" that a number of North African terror cells linked to al-Qa'ida are active in London and other European cities and plotting attacks.

It is unclear if they would attempt a high-profile "spectacular" target such as Tony Blair, or randomly kill members of the public in busy areas to create "mayhem".

But security experts believe an attack on Britain at the earliest opportunity is seen as necessary to give al-Qa'ida a psychological boost.

The revelations follow the arrest last week of six North African men and a woman after a makeshift laboratory producing the poison ricin was discovered in a north London flat by Anti-Terrorist Branch officers. The seven are believed to be Algerian.

Four North Africans, all men, were charged yesterday with terrorism offences relating to the production of chemical weapons.

"The evidence suggests an assassination plot in London," said a well-placed security source about the arrests. "It is hard to see what else you would make and use ricin for."

Two other Algerian men who may also have ricin continue to be sought by police.

The arrests are seen as a coup for MI5. They followed an international surveillance operation involving MI5 and foreign intelligence agencies, including the French.

Dr Magnus Ranstorp, a terrorism expert from St Andrews University, Fife, Scotland, has predicted for some time that terror groups are likely to resort to assassination. Smuggling nuclear, biological and chemical weapons into Britain is very difficult for terrorists, he says. "Even if obtaining and placing weapons of mass destruction is difficult, they must be aware that even a small attack soon is psychologically important for their cause."

Ricin is a deadly poison refined from castor oil beans which can be fatal if sprayed into the face or injected. There is no known antidote.

In the past it has been used only for specific assassinations. The Bulgarian dissident Georgi Markov was killed in London in 1978 by a ricin dart shot into his leg by a Bulgarian secret service agent.

American Special Forces uncovered plans last year to make ricin in one of the al-Qa'ida bases in Afghanistan.

"Ricin is a weapon of mass disruption, not destruction. It targets the economy and preys on people's psychological fears of these unknown, exotic weapons," said Dr Ranstorp.

After the discovery of the small laboratory in Wood Green last week, the personal security of the Prime Minister and other prominent figures was tightened. "While terrorists might like to assassinate Mr Blair or other leading figures, they full well know that even if a handful of shoppers at Wood Green shopping mall were fatally poisoned, it would get a lot of publicity. It would create a lot of fear in the general public," said a former intelligence officer.

Dr Ranstorp does not believe the target would be a major political figure. "Why would anyone go to the trouble of attacking someone like Tony Blair, when a random attack anywhere would sow the seeds of mayhem and destruction to almost the same effect?"

Algerian fundamentalists are among the most prolific, ruthless and well-organised of the shadowy al-Qa'ida network operating in Europe.

MI5 has kept a close eye on suspected Algerian extremists living in Britain for several years, aware of the danger of Algerian terror groups forged in the horrific civil war in the former French colony that has claimed more than 100,000 lives in 10 years.

The war broke out in 1992 when the Algerian army cancelled an election which looked likely to be won by the Islamic party.

On one side is the secular but brutal army supported by the government; on the other is a fundamentalist guerrilla army that wants a hard-line Islamic state. Countless Algerians have fled their own country and sought asylum in other countries, including France and Britain. Unfortunately, terrorists and their sympathisers are among those who have found refuge. They are ideologically committed to the same cause as Osama bin Laden; some have trained in Afghanistan and are veterans of the civil war in Bosnia and, more recently, the conflict in Chechnya. At least two of the seven arrested in London last week are teenage asylum-seekers, and at least one had attended an al-Qa'ida camp in Afghanistan.

Gangs of Algerian extremists are noted for providing money and logistical support for terrorism operations. These gangs inhabit a semi-criminal immigrant underworld and specialise in credit card fraud and obtaining forged documents.

Dr Ranstorp said: "Algerians are the masters of identity theft and that has been of great help to al-Qa'ida."

Since the 11 September attacks MI5 has maintained a policy of disrupting such gangs. The security service provides intelligence to the police who then arrest suspects for non-terrorist crimes.

In the past 12 months Special Branch has rounded up Algerian groups in Leicester, Edinburgh and London. Eighteen Algerians have been arrested in the past four weeks.

Abu Doha, 37, an Algerian arrested in London before 11 September, is in Belmarsh prison awaiting extradition to the US in connection with a bomb plot on Los Angeles international airport.

The Italians claim that he was involved with an al-Qa'ida cell in Milan that planned to attack the US embassy in Rome. The French regard him as a key figure in a plot to blow up Strasbourg Cathedral. Doha is said to be the architect of the complex Algerian terror network spanning Europe. He had been living in Wood Green.