Ricin plotters tied
to al-Qaida, Iraq

The deadly poison ricin discovered at a makeshift lab in a north London apartment last week is linked to a group of Algerian extremists with ties to al-Qaida and Iraq, according to news reports.

The Guardian newspaper reports British intelligence has come to regard the North African terrorists as the "greatest al-Qaida-related threat in Europe, the most potent threat after al-Qaida itself."

The Associated Press reports a senior U.S. official traveling in Europe said men arrested in the alleged ricin plot were linked to Ansar al-Islam, a terrorist group in northern Iraq that is suspected of having ties to al-Qaida and possibly to Saddam Hussein's regime. The official spoke on condition of anonymity.

Four men were arrested in the Wood Green apartment raid Jan. 5 and charged with attempting to develop a chemical weapon. BBC identifies the men as Samir Feddag, 26, his brother Mouloud Feddag, 18, Mustapha Taleb, 33, and a 17-year-old youth, who could not be named for legal reasons.

On Tuesday, police in the northern city of Manchester arrested two North African men during another raid of a home where a 23-year-old Algerian asylum seeker was residing.

During the raid, one of the suspects fatally stabbed an officer. The two were taken into custody under the British Terrorism Act 2000, and a full-scale forensic search of their property was launched.

The Daily Telegraph reports that Scotland Yard describes the two arrested as "significant suspects" in the ricin probe.

Manchester police arrested a fourth man overnight last night.

British intelligence were reportedly on the trail of the Algerian network weeks before the discovery of the ricin.

According to the Guardian, the Algerian terror networks were born out of the Armed Islamic Group that directed attacks in the 1990s at the Algerian government and France, which supported Algiers. In the late 1990s, the militants became influenced by al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden.

Some attended al-Qaida training camps in Afghanistan which evidence suggests included familiarization with ricin and other toxins.

From the al-Qaida training camps, some of these Algerian militants went on to fight in Chechnya, expanding their jihad against the U.S. and its allies.

The Guardian reports the ricin inquiry has become the largest single investigation undertaken by Scotland Yard's anti-terrorist branch since Sept. 11.

The AP reports ricin, which is derived from the castor bean plant, is among the world's deadliest toxins and has been linked in the past to al-Qaida and Iraq.