Three men have been charged over an alleged plot to carry out a terrorist attack on London Underground, police sources said tonight.
Scotland Yard refused to comment on claims in the Sunday Timesnewspaper that the attack involved releasing cyanide gas on the Tube network.
Mr Rabah Chekat-Bais (21), Mr Rabah Kadris, in his mid 30s, and Mr Karim Kadouri (33) all of no fixed abode, were charged under Section 57 of the Terrorism Act 2000 for the possession of articles for the preparation, instigation and commission of terrorism acts.
Mr Chekat-Bais appeared before Bow Street Magistrates Court, in central London, last Monday and Mr Kadris and Mr Kadouri, appeared in court on Tuesday. All three men were remanded in custody to appear before magistrates again on Monday.
The Sunday Timesreport said that six north African men had been arrested on November 9th by Scotland Yard's anti-terrorist branch in connection with the plot. It said officers raided several addresses in north London, taking away items during searches
Three of the men were later released and no chemicals or bomb equipment were found, the report said.
Government sources insisted that the case was not behind the Prime Minister's warning, in his speech to the Lord Mayor's banquet in the City of London last week, that the security services are warning on an almost daily basis of terrorist threats to a wide range of targets in the UK.
Nor, the sources added, was the case connected to Home Secretary David Blunkett's warning earlier this month that al-Qaeda might be ready to use "a so-called dirty bomb, or some kind of poison gas," possibly targeting trains and boats to strike at the heart of Britain's cities
Cyanide can cause death or make people suddenly lose consciousness if it is inhaled or swallowed. Exposure to high levels of cyanide as a gas, liquid or white powder can cause irritation of the skin, headaches, dizziness, loss of coordination, nausea, vomiting, gasping, increased blood pressure, loss of consciousness and death.
A spokeswoman from London Underground would not comment on the report but appealed to passengers to be vigilant.
PA