BRITAIN: Anti-terrorist police are questioning a seventh man in connection with the discovery of the deadly poison, ricin, at a suspected terrorist hideout in London.
Confirmation of the seventh arrest came as Mr Tony Blair warned it was "only a matter of time" before international terrorists acquired weapons of mass destruction unless their proliferation was dealt with, and as preparations for possible war in Iraq dominated the first Prime Minister's Questions of the new year.
Under Conservative pressure about apparent cabinet tensions Mr Blair made the direct link between the international terrorist threat and the crisis over Iraq, again warning it was essential the Baghdad regime was stripped of its nuclear, chemical and biological weapons programmes. Mr Blair rejected suggestions that he was engaged in "dangerous brinkmanship" in the standoff with Saddam Hussein, and a Tory charge that cabinet splits were emerging over the need for military action as the prospect of war grew closer.
Citing Defence Secretary Mr Geoff Hoon's rebuke for Foreign Secretary, Mr Jack Straw, over his suggestion that the chances of war were probably 60/40 against, Conservative leader Mr Iain Duncan Smith demanded: "How can he [Mr Blair] convince the British people that war may be necessary if he can't convince his own cabinet?" Side-stepping the direct question, Mr Blair insisted ministers were "100 per cent united" behind the government's policy.
Fears about the possibility of a poison terror attack grew after the discovery of small traces of ricin at a flat in north London during a combined anti-terrorist/Special Branch/MI5 operation resulting from an intelligence tip-off in the early hours of Sunday morning.
Police confirmed they are looking for at least three more "key individuals" as they seek to establish whether the terrorist suspects have al-Qaeda connections; who or what their intended target may have been; and whether any significant production of ricin remains undetected.
Despite media speculation that the prime minister or other VIPs, or perhaps leading members of the Jewish community, could be targets, the authorities yesterday suggested they had as yet no knowledge of a specific threat, and a number of security experts agreed the authorities almost certainly have little knowledge of who or what they are dealing with.
While doctors across Britain have been alerted to be on the lookout for signs of ricin poisoning - the toxin is lethal if ingested or inhaled - the NHS said the public had reacted calmly to the discovery of the deadly poison.
Figures showed the medical helpline NHS Direct received 47 calls from the public concerned about the discovery.
On a normal Tuesday NHS Direct would receive on average 15,000 calls, according to the department of health.
Believed a more likely weapon of assassination, Dr Sue Atkinson, director of public health for London, suggested it was "highly unlikely" that ricin would be used in an attempted mass poisoning.
"Although it is important that people are aware of this, we don't see a way that this could be given in a mass way," she said.
"If you have got flu-like symptoms, the chances are you have got flu."
Also playing down the threat, Home Office minister Ms Beverley Hughes told the BBC: "People need to be alert but not alarmed." It was revealed yesterday that two of the six arrested on Sunday are teenage asylum-seekers, believed to be aged 16 or 17.
One is from Algeria and the other is believed to be Ethiopian. Both had been housed as asylum-seekers by Islington Council.
The others arrested and still being held are in their mid-20s and 30s.
Publicity surrounding these arrests provoked concern from civil rights campaigners at Liberty, whose director, Mr John Wadham, said information being released by the authorities could prejudice their right to a fair trial.
"These people may be guilty, they may not be. What I would like to see is some degree of calm in relation to the media and in relation to these arrests," he told the BBC's Today programme.