Plots to steal weapon secrets 'foiled by MI5'

Britain's Security Service claimed yesterday that it had thwarted 20 attempts by foreign agents to steal secrets for producing weapons of mass destruction.

MI5 said Russian and Chinese spies were posing as trade officials, businessmen and science delegates to obtain sensitive material from British institutions and businesses. The Security Service also claimed its agents had foiled plans by the al-Qa'ida terror network to attack targets in the United Kingdom.

The disclosures were made in a new Security Service information booklet, which warned of an "increased threat" to British interests from long-range ballistic missile systems and other weapons of mass destruction.

The MI5 document stated: "Much of the material, technology and expertise required for weapons of mass destruction [WMD] programmes can be found in the UK, and many of those seeking to proliferate WMD try to acquire these here." The Security Service said that in 1999-2000 it foiled "20 proven or suspected attempts by proliferating countries to acquire WMD-related goods or expertise from the UK". It also highlighted the "increased threat" that such technology or expertise would fall into the hands of international terrorist groups.

The warnings come in the fourth official MI5 booklet and the first to be published since the 11 September attacks on America.

It said the international terrorist threat was no longer confined to "established groups" but also came from "unaffiliated, loose-knit networks of individuals with a much broader agenda" – a trend that was likely to continue.