EU moves to curb access to bomb-making chemicals

Brussels, Sep 21 (IANS/AKI) Aiming to boost security, the European Union (EU) has proposed a rule for all its member countries to limit access to chemicals that can be used to prepare home-made bombs.

“Home-made explosives are tools used very frequently by terrorists and other criminals to perpetrate attacks,” said EU home affairs commissioner Cecilia Malmstroem.

“We need to enhance controls and prevent terrorists from taking advantage of existing differences in security rules among EU member states,” she added.

In recent years, most terrorist attacks have used home-made explosive devices made from chemicals that are currently widely available to the general public, the commission said.

Rudimentary explosives were used, for instance, in the coordinated July 2005 bombings of London’s transport system, which killed 56 people and wounded around 700.

Sales of products that contain more than permitted level of such chemicals will be banned, the EU official said.

–IANS/AKI