Ricin Raid Slay Suspect Faces Judge

A judge ordered Friday that the man accused of killing a police officer during an anti-terrorism raid last week be held without bail.

Kamel Bourgass, 27, made a brief appearance before a judge sitting in a courtroom at the high-security Belmarsh prison in southeast London as his identity was made public for the first time.

Bourgass is accused of murdering Detective Constable Stephen Oake on Tuesday as police raided a flat in the northern English city of Manchester as part of an investigation into the discovery of the deadly poison ricin at a London apartment.

Bourgass, whom police said was of North African origin, was also charged with attempting to murder four other police officers who were injured during the raid.

In court Friday, he wore a white forensic suit and was guarded by seven officers wearing body armor.

News reports Thursday said the accused killer, whom they did not identify by name, was believed to be a leader of a network of Algerian extremists who are influenced by the al Qaeda network and possess ricin.

Meanwhile, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov Friday said the arrests in Britain of men suspected of producing ricin proves that terrorists' attempts to obtain weapons of mass destruction posed a "real threat."

Ivanov called for stronger international controls to prevent the al Qaeda terrorist network from obtaining weapons of mass destruction.

"Such a potential threat indeed exists," Ivanov said when asked whether al Qaeda and the Taliban could get their hand on nuclear and other mass-destruction weapons.

Assistant Chief Constable Alan Green said there was no sign of the deadly poison at the site of the Manchester raid, a home in the northern part of the city. Two other men were arrested also.

Green told reporters that a team of officers and immigration officials intended to arrest a man under counterterrorism legislation.

Anti-terrorist police earlier this month uncovered traces of the powerful poison in an apartment in north London's Wood Green district.

Four other men have also been charged with chemical weapons and terrorism offenses in the ricin case.