Six held after deadly poison find in London

SIX terror suspects were being questioned by Scotland Yard detectives last night after traces of the deadly poison ricin were discovered.

The six men of north African origin were arrested after an operation by the anti-terrorist branch in north and east London.

Scotland Yard said "equipment and materials" were found at an address in Wood Green, where one of the man was also arrested.

A woman who was also arrested has been released.

Ricin was the poison used to murder Bulgarian exile Georgi Markov in a political assassination in London in 1978. The author, who had defected nine years earlier, was killed while waiting for a bus.

He was apparently jabbed with the tip of an umbrella. Four days later Markov was dead and a post mortem examination revealed ricin poisoning to be the cause.

Yesterday's news comes weeks after security sources warned of a possible terror attack involving the London underground.

In a joint statement issued this afternoon, anti-terror chief David Veness and deputy chief medical officer Dr Pat Troop said: "In the early hours of Sunday, January 5, 2003, six men and one woman, were arrested under the Terrorism Act 2000 at premises in north and east London.

"The six men, aged in their late teens, 20s and 30s, remain in custody and are being interviewed by anti terrorist branch officers. The woman has been released.

"A quantity of material and items of equipment were found at a residential premises in Wood Green, north London, where one of the men was arrested.

"This material has been analysed at the Defence Science and Technology Laboratories at Porton Down.

"A small amount of the material recovered from the Wood Green premises tested positive for the presence of ricin poison."