Burzhui
01-20-2003, 01:07 PM
Police have found a stun gun, a blank firing imitation firearm and CS gas at a London mosque.
They have also discovered large numbers of passports, ID cards and credit cards.
The find comes after anti-terrorist officers raided the North London Central Mosque in Finsbury Park and two nearby properties.
Around 150 officers - many of them armed - were involved in the raid, in which seven people were arrested.
The seven, six north Africans and an eastern European, were detained under the Terrorism Act 2000 and taken to a central London police station for questioning.
The mosque has attracted various extremists in the past including "shoe-bomber" Richard Reid and Frenchman Zacharias Moussaoui, the alleged 20th hijacker on September 11.
Senior officers said they were looking for specific individuals and the raid was linked to the discovery of the deadly poison ricin at a flat in nearby Wood Green on January 5.
No chemical substances were found at the mosque.
The radical Muslim cleric Abu Hamza, who is based there, condemned the raid and accused the police and Government of adopting "Rambo-style" tactics.
He claimed the operation was in retaliation for the murder of Detective Constable Stephen Oake in Manchester last week.
He also said it was part of a Government-backed "war" on Islam.
They have also discovered large numbers of passports, ID cards and credit cards.
The find comes after anti-terrorist officers raided the North London Central Mosque in Finsbury Park and two nearby properties.
Around 150 officers - many of them armed - were involved in the raid, in which seven people were arrested.
The seven, six north Africans and an eastern European, were detained under the Terrorism Act 2000 and taken to a central London police station for questioning.
The mosque has attracted various extremists in the past including "shoe-bomber" Richard Reid and Frenchman Zacharias Moussaoui, the alleged 20th hijacker on September 11.
Senior officers said they were looking for specific individuals and the raid was linked to the discovery of the deadly poison ricin at a flat in nearby Wood Green on January 5.
No chemical substances were found at the mosque.
The radical Muslim cleric Abu Hamza, who is based there, condemned the raid and accused the police and Government of adopting "Rambo-style" tactics.
He claimed the operation was in retaliation for the murder of Detective Constable Stephen Oake in Manchester last week.
He also said it was part of a Government-backed "war" on Islam.