UK’s first dead in war on terror

A British policeman was stabbed to death and four others were injured in an anti-terror raid which police said was linked to last week’...

A British policeman was stabbed to death and four others were injured in an anti-terror raid which police said was linked to last week’s discovery of a chemical weapons agent in London.

Unarmed officers swooped on an address in Manchester on Tuesday to detain a man under anti-terrorism laws but found two other men in their 20s there, Manchester’s Assistant Chief Police Constable Alan Green said. Prime Minister Tony Blair said the first killing of a British police officer in an anti-terrorist operation since the September 11 attacks was ‘‘an appalling tragedy and wicked in the extreme.’’

Blair said in his statement he ‘‘was shocked and very saddened to learn of the death of this brave police officer. His death and the injuries to the other officers involved in this incident underline the dangers our police and security forces face in these times.’’

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One of the suspects attacked the officers with a large kitchen knife, Green said. Detective Constable Stephen Oake died of stab wounds in hospital. Green said the raid was linked to the discovery of the deadly poison ricin in a North London apartment last week, but there was no sign of any toxins at the Manchester address.

All three suspects, believed to be of North African origin, were being held in custody, Green said.

A murder investigation was launched. Scotland Yard Police later said one of the suspects was being taken to London to be questioned by the anti-terror squad. Manchester’s Chief constable Michael Todd said the officers had been in the flat for about an hour before one of the suspects broke free, grabbed a knife and attacked the officers. (Reuters)