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British Judge Bans Student’s Scientific Studies
A British judge has ruled that an Iraqi national suspected of terrorist ties may not enroll in chemistry and biology courses at a regional British college, the Press Association reported today (see GSN, Nov. 8, 2007). The student, identified only as “AE,” had sought to reverse a decision last September by British Home Secretary Jacqui Smith to bar him from the courses that Smith said could provide conventional explosive expertise, or even chemical- and biological-weapon knowledge, to terrorists (see GSN, July 21). Justice Stephen Silber agreed with Smith’s decision. The student was motivated by “a wish to use the information gained on such courses for some form of terrorist purposes which might be to teach others how to produce explosives or pathogens or to do so himself, especially in the light of the call for help from al-Qaeda in Iraq,” Silber’s ruling said, referring to a 2006 statement from the group. The statement encouraged individuals with knowledge of “dirty” and biological weapons to use that expertise against “In my view, this call for scientific information to be used in the holy war against the West is significant,” Silber said. AE’s ability to take a human biology class would place him “in a substantially stronger position to produce or to assist in the growth of pathogens than somebody who had not,” the judge said. “These pathogens are and can be very dangerous and one such culture is anthrax which can be obtained, cultured and disseminated as a powder” (John Aston, Press Association, July 22).
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