"UK Poison Cell" Suspects Found Not Guilty

The "UK poison cell" that was cited by Secretary of State Colin Powell as part of his February 5, 2003 presentation to the United Nations to justify U.S. military action against Iraq has proved to be yet another alarmist misrepresentation of elementary facts, according to a judicial ruling in London last week.
A British jury found that the so-called "UK poison cell" was "not guilty of conspiracy to murder by plotting ricin attacks and, generally speaking, not guilty of conspiracy to do anything," wrote George Smith of GlobalSecurity.org, who consulted in the trial. The verdict followed a remarkable series of missteps and misunderstandings by intelligence analysts, law enforcement personnel and government officials.