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Chlorine gas is an 'attradive target' for terrorist gangs
Page 10
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Hauliers transporting chlorine and other dangerous chemicals could be
at risk from terrorist groups in search of weapons. Chris Tindall reports.
ATIACKS BY IRAQI insurgents using chlorine over the past few weeks have prompted fears that terrorists could target trucks transporting dangerous chemicals around the UK.
Stephen Swain, the Metropolitan Police's former head of antiterrorism, points out that the ready availability of this chemical, which is routinely used in water treatment,makes it an attractive proposition to terrorists.
Swain, who is now a security consultant for Control Risks Group, explains:"Therc are lots of chemicals being transported around. Some present no danger at all some are fairly dangerous. Chlorine is pretty dangerous in its own right."
Chlorine has been used in truck bomb attacks at least three times in Iraq since 28 January —but it has been used as a weapon since the First World War. It burns the skin, attacks the eyes and lungs and can be fatal after only a few concentrated breaths.
RogerWrapsouthe Road Haulage Association's head of dangerous goods, reports that it has been working "very closely" with antiterrorist organisations in the UK for the past few years.
"I think it was the police themselves that said chlorine could be a target and asked us for details of what we knew about operators that moved it about," he adds.
"It's an attractive target to a terrorist. You could do a lot of damage with it — obviously, it pays lobe on your toes."