An al-Qaeda suspect has been jailed over a poison plot in Britain

BBC News:

An al-Qaeda suspect who stabbed to death a policeman has been jailed for 17 years for plotting to spread ricin and other poisons on the UK's streets.

Kamel Bourgass, 31, is already serving a life term after being convicted of murdering Detective Constable Stephen Oake during a 2003 raid in Manchester.

Four other men were cleared last week of taking part in a conspiracy. A second trial has been abandoned.

Anti-terror chief Peter Clarke said a "real and deadly threat" was averted.

The BBC's Home Editor Mark Easton says the authorities in Britain believe there was a plan to co-ordinate chemical and biological attacks across Europe.

In London targets were to include the underground.

And in Paris the authorities suspect the Metro and Eiffel Tower could have been attacked.

In a statement, Deputy Assistant Commissioner Clarke said: "The impact on the public, if he [Bourgass] had succeeded in what he wanted to do, is incalculable."

And, paying tribute to DC Oake, he went on: "He died protecting the public from a vicious terrorist.

"It would be hard to underestimate the fear and disruption this plot could have caused across the country."

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