'Lone wolf' likely terror suspect

The cyanide threat is likely to have been made by a single person who fits "lone wolf" criteria, says terrorism expert Paul Buchanan, a former United States Defence Department analyst who lectures at Auckland University.

These are individuals often associated with the extremist right wing.

In this case the link with the United States Embassy indicates someone in New Zealand who is unhappy about a possible war with Iraq, said Dr Buchanan.

"A lone wolf doesn't receive directions from a larger network - would not be taking direction from al Qaeda - but they sympathise with the overall cause and they have the means to do harm on their own.

"They might have a machine gun, or this individual clearly has access to cyanide.

"What you could probably say is it could be any number of disgruntled New Zealanders with access to cyanide - and now we're talking tens of thousands of people - who has decided to up the ante out of solidarity with Saddam or just out of opposition to the war."

By issuing vague warnings about public transport, food and the America's Cup, the police might be deliberately exaggerating the threat to see if they can get anyone who knows the individual to come forward.

But the police warnings should be taken very seriously, as cyanide kills.

Dr Buchanan said that the person who sent cyanide when United States golfer Tiger Woods was playing in the New Zealand Open had a strong anti-American stance.

"They paid Tiger Woods an exorbitant amount of money, and there was that whole fan hysteria-fest over the Tiger phenomena, so this person probably has fairly deep-seated anti-American feelings."

If police were worried the threat came from a terrorist cell "they'd be talking less and they'd be acting quickly".

The threat against Woods was made in a cyanide-laced letter sent to the United States Embassy in January last year.

It was later revealed in Parliament that the letter contained enough cyanide to kill up to 15 people if ingested, and 100 people if converted to a gas.

More than $1 million was spent on security at the Open to thwart any possible attack.

Police then also raised the risk of contaminated food, warning people to take care around food and drink sources and to ensure packaging and seals were intact.

Assistant Police Commissioner Jon White said at the time that police and health authorities had contingency plans should concerns about dangerous substances arise, and asked people to report suspicious activity.

He said it was a domestic letter and possibly a hoax but it was important that emergency services and the public focused on a range of possible threats rather than just focusing on cyanide.

A man was interviewed in his Paraparaumu Beach home by the police but denied any involvement.

The author of the letter was never found but it was the first reported incident of chemical terrorism outside the US since September 11, 2001.

* Parliament's security is being stepped up and visitors will have to go through metal detectors and have their bags x-rayed, Speaker Jonathan Hunt said yesterday.

He said the new measures had not been prompted by any specific threat but reflected "overall risks" that had to be taken into account after the September 11 terror attacks in America.

Mr Hunt said other countries, including Australia, had increased security for their Parliaments and the measures he was announcing were standard.

They included the use of metal detectors, which all visitors would have to pass through at all of the public entrances.

Visitors, including those on their way to the debating chamber or select committee rooms, would also have to have any bags x-rayed on arrival.

Mr Hunt said the measures would be phased in over the next few months.

"The aim of these measures is not to close off the parliamentary complex to visitors and members of the public.

"Rather, they aim to ensure that the complex continues as a safe place for those who work in it and for those people who come to visit for legitimate purposes."

- NZPA

Instrument of terror


What cyanide is


* A deadly poison which smells of almonds. Usually found in a gas called hydrogen cyanide or in white solids called sodium cyanide and potassium cyanide.

What it does

* "The simplest explanation is that it prevents the body from utilising oxygen," says Dr John Fountain, toxicologist at the National Poisons Centre.

It is more harmful to the heart and brain than other organs because they require a lot of oxygen.

The symptoms

* If it is inhaled, symptoms ranging from feeling generally unwell, to confusion or anxiety, says the Ministry of Health

* If eaten it produces a bitter burning taste, numbness in the throat, and a stiff lower jaw. Salivation, nausea and vomiting often follow.

* In severe cases breathing becomes rapid and deep, and then slow and gasping. Fluid may fill the lungs.

Treatment

* Decisions about treatment will vary depending on the circumstances. However, general treatment for mild exposure to cyanide includes oxygen and bedrest. Treatment for moderate to severe exposure includes oxygen and antidotes.

* In all cases of suspected cyanide poisoning phone 111 and ask for ambulance and medical help.

* The urgent number for the National Poison Centre is 0800 764-766.

Its legitimate uses

* Pest eradication and control, especially for possums.

* Cyanide and hydrogen cyanide are used in electroplating, metallurgy, production of chemicals, photographic development, making plastics, fumigating ships, and some mining processes.

Controls

* Dr Fountain says it is not easy to get and hunters or conservation staff need a permit to buy it.

A dark history

* Cyanide has been associated with genocide, Middle Eastern wars, and the Jonestown suicides.

* Zyklon B, which contains one-third liquid hydrogen cyanide, was used in the Nazi death camps of World War II.

* Top Nazi Field Marshal Hermann Goering committed suicide at his trial for war atrocities by swallowing a cyanide capsule.

* In the worst mass suicide of modern times 914 people died in a remote Guyana jungle after drinking cyanide-laced Kool-Aid on instruction from religious fanatic Jim Jones in 1978.

* Cyanide gas is still legally on the books in five American states for administering the death penalty, although lethal injection is the preferred way.

* Scientists believe a form of cyanide gas may have been used in the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s as well as by Iraq against inhabitants of the Kurdish city of Halabja in northern Iraq.