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13-01-2023
By SJA Jafri + Bureau Report + Agencies
ISLAMABAD/ LONDON: Islamabad has denied reports in the British media that a package containing uranium, which arrived at London’s Heathrow airport in December, originated from Pakistan.
Newspapers including ‘The Sun’, a tabloid, and the Guardian made the claim, as well as Sky News, a broadcaster.
“No information to this effect has been shared with us officially. We are confident that the reports are not factual,” Mumtaz Zahra Baloch, spokeswoman of Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told media on Thursday.
However, another government official told media on the condition of anonymity that there is a sense of fear that the incident might affect Pakistan’s reputation “unjustifiably”.
Earlier this week, London’s Metropolitan Police force confirmed that after routine cargo screening, a package containing “a very small amount of contaminated material” was identified incoming to the UK. Counterterrorism police are investigating the incident.
The office of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak told Al Jazeera in a statement there is no threat to public safety. “We do not comment on live investigations. But operationally, we do not currently assess that this poses any threat to the public,” the office said.
According to reports, uranium was embedded into metal bars in a package that reached London via Muscat, on an Oman Air commercial flight.
Uranium is a rare radioactive metal commonly used as fuel for nuclear power, including in reactors, submarines, power plants and weapons.
An Islamabad-based security analyst, who requested anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter, said if the investigation finds the package did originate from Pakistan, it would indicate gross negligence in the country.
“The detection of metal bars contaminated with ‘small quantity’ of uranium at London’s Heathrow airport is very concerning. If the port of origin of these metal bars is correct, that means the radioactive bars managed to pass through multiple scanning and security checks at a Pakistani airport,” the analyst said.
For a detailed investigation, the sender’s identity can easily be traced if UK authorities share relevant information with the Pakistani side.
The Sun, which first reported the story, claimed the package was “destined for Iranian nationals in [the] United Kingdom”.
Richard Smith, head of the Metropolitan Police’s Counter Terrorism Command, said on Wednesday: “An element of cargo was identified that was emitting a radioactive signal.”
“The amount of material we’re talking about was very small, and there was no threat to public health or public safety identified.”
British police opened an investigation into a package containing uranium that was seized at London’s Heathrow Airport, allegedly coming from Pakistan on a flight from Oman.
The uranium was found in a shipment of scrap metal and investigators were looking into whether it was the result of “poor handling” in Pakistan, local media claimed.
Some papers reported there were fears of “dirty bomb” but Scotland Yard played down any serious threat and said the amount of contaminated substance that had arrived in the UK was “extremely small” contradicting reports by a paper that “several kilograms of uranium was seized at Heathrow airport”.
The shipment was addressed to an Iranian-linked firm in the UK, it is understood.
Sources said the uranium was “not weapons-grade” and so could not be used to manufacture a thermo-nuclear weapon.
The package originated in Pakistan before arriving at Heathrow’s Terminal Four aboard an Oman Air passenger jet from Muscat, UK’s The Sun had claimed.
Speaking to Geo and The News, a spokesman of Scotland Yard said: “We can confirm officers from the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command were contacted by Border Force colleagues at Heathrow after a very small amount of contaminated material was identified after routine screening within a package incoming to the UK on 29 December 2022.”
Commander Richard Smith said: “I want to reassure the public that the amount of contaminated material was extremely small and has been assessed by experts as posing no threat to the public. Although our investigation remains ongoing, from our inquiries so far, it does not appear to be linked to any direct threat.”
The official added that the agency will continue to follow up on all available lines of enquiry to ensure this is definitely the case.
“No arrests have been made at this time and officers continue to work with partner agencies to fully investigate this matter and ensure there is no risk to the public. Border Force agents isolated the shipment in a radioactive room and, upon determining it was uranium, called in counter-terror police.”
Hamish De Bretton-Gordon, former commander of the UK’s nuclear defence regiment, said: “Uranium can give off very high levels of poisonous radiation. It could be used in a dirty bomb. The good news is the system worked and it has been interdicted.”
