London, July 20, 2007  – A Somali man has been arrested under UK anti-terrorism laws after police found containers of a chemical used in the 2005 London bombings, police said on Friday.

Police found two 25 litre vessels of hydrogen peroxide in a flat they were searching as part of a drugs inquiry in the southwestern city of Bristol.

"There is a heightened vigilance with the general terrorist threat and that has sparked our inquiry," said Steve Mortimore, Assistant Chief Constable of Avon and Somerset Constabulary.

"If it turns out to be 50 litres of industrial strength hydrogen peroxide, then clearly there are some questions to answer," he told the BBC. "We've got one man from Afghanistan and one man from Somalia."

The arrests were made this week. The chemical had been taken away for forensic tests.

The four suicide bombers who killed 52 commuters in London on July 7, 2005, used bombs made with hydrogen peroxide, a bleach used to dye hair.

Source: Agencies