ISLAMABAD: Authorities in Britain arrested a man on Sunday as part of their counterterrorism investigation after traces of uranium were found in a shipment at London’s Heathrow Airport last month which was said to have originated in Pakistan.
The story was first reported by a tabloid, The Sun, which named Pakistan as the shipment’s point of origin while adding it had arrived in Britain on a flight from Oman.
However, Pakistan’s foreign office dismissed the media report, saying it had not received any information from British officials and was “confident” the news was “not factual.”
Britain’s police announced the arrest of a 60-year-old man on Sunday the United Kingdom’s Terrorism Act who was later released on bail until April.
“I want to be clear that despite making this arrest, and based on what we currently know, this incident still does not appear to be linked to any direct threat to the public,” said Commander Richard Smith, head of the Metropolitan Police’s Counter Terrorism Command.
“The discovery of what was a very small amount of uranium within a package at Heathrow Airport is clearly of concern, but it shows the effectiveness of the procedures and checks in place with our partners to detect this type of material,” he added.
Smith said the investigation was ongoing.
A recent media report in the Daily Telegraph said the shipment was intended to be sent to an Iran-registered business in the UK.
The newspaper also quoted intelligence and counterterrorism officials as saying the incident could be a “dry run” to test the efficiency of the British customs system.
With additional input from AFP
