ISLAMABAD: The Foreign Office denied UK media reports that a package containing a small amount of uranium seized at London’s Heathrow Airport originated from Pakistan.
In a statement to the press on Thursday, Mumtaz Zahra Baloch, its spokesperson, said the reports were “not factual” and that no information to this effect had been officially shared with Pakistan by British authorities.
British police announced on Wednesday that a “very small quantity” of uranium was detected in a package that arrived at Heathrow Airport on December 29. The package was addressed to an Iran-linked firm in the UK, according to reports.
Police added the radioactive material, which was caught during routine scanning, posed no risk and was not linked to any direct threat or public health threat.
According to Richard Smith, a spokesperson of Scotland Yard: “We can confirm officers from the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command were contacted by Border Force colleagues at Heathrow after a very small amount of contaminated material was identified after routine screening within a package incoming to the UK.”
“I want to reassure the public the amount of contaminated material was extremely small and has been assessed by experts as posing no threat to the public. Although our investigation remains ongoing, from our inquiries so far, it does not appear to be linked to any direct threat,” said Smith.
However, a report by The Sun claimed that the package originated in Pakistan before arriving aboard an Oman Air passenger jet from Muscat.
In response to media queries on the matter, Baloch said: “We have seen the media reports. We are confident that the reports are not factual.”
Smith said the agency would continue to follow up on all available lines of enquiry to ensure this was definitely the case.
“No arrests have been made at this time and officers continue to work with partner agencies to fully investigate this matter and ensure there is no risk to the public. Border Force agents isolated the shipment in a radioactive room and, upon determining it was uranium, called in counter-terror police.”
