Chemical Bomb Raid Men Released

[Wokeman]

LONDON (Reuters) - Police have freed without charge two men arrested during a raid on a London house that police suspected of being used for making a chemical bomb.

One of the men was shot during last week's raid by more than 250 officers, which Muslim groups have criticised as heavy handed. Police found no bomb in a search of the house in the ethnically mixed area of Forest Gate in east London.

The men, aged 20 and 23 and reported to be brothers, were released on Friday evening. Police had a warrant allowing them to question them until Saturday.
Lawyers for the men have said they deny any involvement in terrorism.

"The intelligence received by police continues to be developed and the Metropolitan Police will continue to exhaust all lines of inquiry," a police statement said.

Police thanked local residents for their "tolerance and understanding" during the operation.

The men were released hours after a small group of radical Islamists demonstrated outside Forest Gate police station in protest at the raid.

Chanting "Tony Blair terrorist" and "Hands off the Muslims", around 200 demonstrators waved placards and shouted insults at scores of watching police officers.

Prime Minister Tony Blair gave his backing to the police over the raid earlier this week.

London police Assistant Commissioner Andy Hayman apologised for the disruption caused by the raid on Thursday but said the police had "no choice" but to act on "very specific intelligence".

The operation, which included officers wearing chemical, biological and radiological protection suits, was one of the biggest since last July's suicide bomb attacks on London underground trains and a bus that killed 52 people.

[Martin Conner]

The ‘pork scratchings’ obviously have so much money they can afford to throw it away. IMO, the phrase ‘police intelligence’ is a perfect oxymoron, on par perhaps with ‘government integrity’ or ‘free society’