Four men charged over ricin discovery
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Four men arrested after police found traces of the deadly poison ricin in a London flat became the first people to be charged under the 1996 Chemical Weapons Act yesterday.
Mouloud Feddag, Sidali Feddag, Semir Feddag and Mustapha Taleb will appear at Bow Street magistrates court in London tomorrow after police charged them with producing chemical weapons.
A fifth man, Nasreddine Fekhaddji, will also be charged with possessing false documents under the Forgery and Counterfeiting Act.
A sixth man, who has not been named, was not charged but re-arrested for drug possession and immigration matters.
A seventh man has also been arrested following the raid on a flat in Wood Green, north London, last week.
Anti-terrorist police raided the flat last Sunday and allegedly found traces of ricin, which can kill within days. There is no antidote or treatment.
The four were also charged under section 57 of the Terrorism Act with "possession of articles of value to a terrorist".
Ricin is derived from the castor oil plant, which is grown around the world, and is relatively easy to make. It has been linked to Osama bin Laden's al-Qa'ida network.