WORLD : Iraqi in Nuclear Plot Linked to Effort to Smuggle Naval Gear

British customs officers, who seized 40 nuclear bomb triggers believed bound for Baghdad, have also uncovered a plot to smuggle restricted naval equipment to Iraq, a government source said today.

Press reports said an Iraqi who was ordered deported because of the suspected nuclear plot was also trying to get acoustic equipment used in underwater mines.

“An investigation is taking place in northwest England and in Scotland connected with the illegal export of naval equipment to Iraq,” the source said.

Britain’s Press Assn. news agency said customs agents raided lawyers’ and accountants’ offices in Liverpool and Edinburgh on Wednesday night, seizing documents related to the investigation into the second alleged smuggling attempt.

British authorities seized the 40 U.S.-made triggers for nuclear weapons at London’s Heathrow Airport on Wednesday after an 18-month investigation led by the United States.

An indictment unsealed in San Diego today names four Iraqis, a Frenchwoman and two British firms as defendants in the case.

Iraq today denied British allegations of involvement in the plot.

Also today, British Foreign Secretary Douglas Hurd rejected any break in ties between the two nations.