LONDON, May 17 (Reuters) – Armed guards employed on merchant ships to repel attacks by pirates should be subject to new standards to ensure they abide by international law while on the high seas, a United Nations agency said on Thursday.

The International Maritime Organization, whose role is to improve the safety of global shipping, said it wanted a new set of global guidelines to be drawn up to help countries and shipping countries decide whether and how to deploy armed guards.

“International standards or regimes should be established,” IMO Secretary-General Koji Sekimizu told reporters.

“That regime should not be made compulsory, but provide an international framework on which the flag state and the (shipping) companies may decide to employ arms on board.

“This is not a permanent solution and arms on board will not be institutionalised. These are exceptional circumstances and we hope these are temporary measures,” he said after an anti-piracy conference at the IMO’s headquarters overlooking the River Thames in London.

Shipping companies are increasingly reliant on private guards to deter pirates armed with machine guns and rocket launchers who are prepared to take hostages and demand ransoms worth millions of dollars each year, particularly in the Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean.

Naval patrols by NATO, the European Union and others have failed to stop attacks by Somali pirates, prompting ship owners to look for different ways to protect their cargoes and crew.

LONDON (Reuters) – Britain’s military will be armed with a sonic device that can be used as a high-volume loudspeaker or a non-lethal weapon to disperse crowds at this summer’s Olympic Games in London, the defence ministry said on Friday.

The equipment, which can project a piercing sound over hundreds of metres causing physical pain, has been used during protests at the G20 summit in Pittsburgh in 2009 and against pirates operating off the Somali coast.

The Ministry of Defence said it expected to use it primarily in loudspeaker mode to communicate with boats it wants to stop on the River Thames.

Defence chiefs have already caused controversy by announcing plans to put surface-to-air missiles on the top of residential buildings near the Olympics site in east London.

Fighter jets roared over the capital and helicopters were seen hovering over the Houses of Parliament this month during a nine-day military exercise to prepare for Britain’s biggest peacetime security operation.

The LRAD (Long Range Acoustic Device), made by U.S. company LRAD Corporation (LRAD.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), can be mounted on the side of a ship or on the top of a vehicle. Some versions are roughly the same size and shape as a dustbin lid.

It can generate noises up to around 150 decibels, similar to a gunshot, and has a maximum range of 3 km or 1.8 miles.

LONDON, May 11 (Reuters) – Britain’s military will be armed with a sonic device that can be used as a high-volume loudspeaker or a non-lethal weapon to disperse crowds at this summer’s Olympic Games in London, the defence ministry said on Friday.

The equipment, which can project a piercing sound over hundreds of metres causing physical pain, has been used during protests at the G20 summit in Pittsburgh in 2009 and against pirates operating off the Somali coast.

The Ministry of Defence said it expected to use it primarily in loudspeaker mode to communicate with boats it wants to stop on the River Thames.

Defence chiefs have already caused controversy by announcing plans to put surface-to-air missiles on the top of residential buildings near the Olympics site in east London.

Fighter jets roared over the capital and helicopters were seen hovering over the Houses of Parliament this month during a nine-day military exercise to prepare for Britain’s biggest peacetime security operation.

The LRAD (Long Range Acoustic Device), made by U.S. company LRAD Corporation, can be mounted on the side of a ship or on the top of a vehicle. Some versions are roughly the same size and shape as a dustbin lid.

It can generate noises up to around 150 decibels, similar to a gunshot, and has a maximum range of 3 km or 1.8 miles.

LONDON (Reuters) – A radical preacher accused of giving spiritual inspiration to one of the 9/11 hijackers lost a legal bid in the European courts on Wednesday to challenge Britain’s long-running attempts to deport him to Jordan to stand trial on terrorism charges.

The European Court of Human Rights rejected Abu Qatada’s request to refer his case to its most senior panel of appeal judges, the latest stage in a legal battle that has dogged British governments for a decade.

Qatada says he could face torture if he is sent to Jordan, but the European court ruled Britain had received satisfactory assurances from the Middle East state that he would not be mistreated.

Jordan has found Qatada guilty in his absence of sending encouragement from Britain to militants in Jordan planning two bombing attacks in 1999 and 2000. He would be retried in Jordan if he is deported.

However, the seven European judges in Strasbourg said on Wednesday that Britain should not deport Qatada before receiving further assurances from Jordan that the preacher’s retrial would not include evidence obtained by the torture of a co-defendant.

“It (such evidence) would be of considerable, perhaps decisive, importance,” the court said in a statement. “In the absence of any assurance by Jordan that the torture evidence would not be used…his deportation to Jordan to be retried would give rise to a flagrant denial of justice.”

Britain says a 2005 deal with Jordan and more recent diplomatic assurances would ensure that Qatada – once described by a Spanish judge as “Osama bin Laden’s right-hand man in Europe” – receives a fair trial and would not be mistreated.

LONDON, May 4 (Reuters) – Boris Johnson dodged a humiliating nationwide defeat for Prime Minister David Cameron by winning London in local elections that saw voters angry at Britain’s economic woes flock to opposition Labour and a right-wing anti-European fringe party.

Maverick mayor Johnson’s silver-lining win in London was the only good news for Cameron whom local media said had been given a bloody nose by voters upset at spending cuts and Britain’s return to recession.

Even Johnson, who as one of the most popular politicians in Cameron’s own party is tipped as a possible future prime minister, saw his majority slashed, claiming victory only after a lengthy count that had put him head to head with his rival, Labour candidate Ken Livingstone.

“I will continue to fight for a good deal for Londoners, a good deal from the government that will help us deliver prosperity for everybody in this city,” Johnson, famous for his ruffled fair hair, said after the vote count at London’s City Hall, a rounded glass building on the Thames.

Johnson failed to mention the wider Conservative defeat, but his challenger, Livingstone, said that the victory could put Johnson on course to one day lead the Conservative party.

With results declared in all 181 councils being contested across the country, Labour had gained 823 new councillors while the Conservatives had lost 405 and their Liberal Democrat coalition partners were down by 336.

After preaching economic prudence, Cameron’s coalition government was damaged by a return to recession and weeks of blunders that made ministers appear out of touch with voters struggling with high unemployment, price rises and low wages.

LONDON (Reuters) – British military chiefs defended plans on Monday to put missile batteries on top of apartment blocks to help protect London from a 9/11-style attack during this summer’s Olympic Games, after appalled residents said it could make them a target.

With 88 days to go before the Games start, soldiers will start testing missile defenses this week at six sites around the Olympic park as part of a training exercise in the run-up to Britain’s biggest peacetime security operation.

People living in one of the buildings earmarked for one of the missile batteries said they feared terrorists might attack their block and they were scared of the effects of shooting down a plane over a built-up area.

However, military planners said they had to beef up security to cope with anything on the scale of the September 11, 2001 strikes or a smaller, “low and slow” strike by a single light aircraft.

“We are practicing for the worst case scenario, not the most likely,” General Sir Nick Parker, in charge of the military’s Olympics role, told a news conference. “I do understand that this is unusual and people will be concerned. But for the greater good, it is prudent for us to provide this sort of air security plan.”

As one of the biggest supporters of the U.S. invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan, Britain has long been regarded as a prime target for terrorists. Suicide bombers killed 52 people in co-ordinated attacks in London on the day after the city was awarded the Games in July 2005.

Britain currently rates the threat of a terrorist attack as “substantial”, the third highest level, which means a strike is seen as a strong possibility.

LONDON, April 30 (Reuters) – British military chiefs defended plans on Monday to put missile batteries on top of apartment blocks to help protect London from a 9/11-style attack during this summer’s Olympic Games, after appalled residents said it could make them a target.

With 88 days to go before the Games start, soldiers will start testing missile defences this week at six sites around the Olympic park as part of a training exercise in the run-up to Britain’s biggest peacetime security operation.

People living in one of the buildings earmarked for one of the missile batteries said they feared terrorists might attack their block and they were scared of the effects of shooting down a plane over a built-up area.

However, military planners said they had to beef up security to cope with anything on the scale of the Sept. 11, 2001 strikes or a smaller, “low and slow” strike by a single light aircraft.

“We are practising for the worst case scenario, not the most likely,” General Sir Nick Parker, in charge of the military’s Olympics role, told a news conference. “I do understand that this is unusual and people will be concerned. But for the greater good, it is prudent for us to provide this sort of air security plan.”

As one of the biggest supporters of the U.S. invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan, Britain has long been regarded as a prime target for terrorists. Suicide bombers killed 52 people in co-ordinated attacks in London on the day after the city was awarded the Games in July 2005.

Britain currently rates the threat of a terrorist attack as “substantial”, the third highest level, which means a strike is seen as a strong possibility.

LONDON (Reuters) – Armed police arrested a man at the scene of a siege in central London on Friday after reports that a suspect had taken several office workers hostage and threatened to blow himself up.

Police had surrounded an office block and evacuated hundreds of people from one of the capital’s busiest roads after a man began throwing office equipment out of a fifth floor window.

Witnesses said the man, aged 49 or 50, had taken around four people hostage and had threatened to detonate gas canisters he was carrying. Police had no comment on those reports. A source said the incident was not terror-related and was thought to involve a man who had a grievance against a company.

Police in the capital are on alert as the city prepares to host the Olympic Games and celebrate the 60th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth’s reign this summer.

“We have arrested a man (and) a search of the building is under way,” the Metropolitan Police said in a statement. “We are not aware of any hostages at this stage.”

Police sent a negotiator to the office block and imposed a 300 meter cordon around the building after the man entered the building before lunchtime.

One office worker said she had been inside the building when the man arrived and threatened staff.

LONDON (Reuters) – Armed police surrounded a building in central London and evacuated part of one of the busiest roads in the capital on Friday after reports that a man threatening to blow himself up had taken several office workers hostage.

Police said they had sent a hostage negotiator to the office block and imposed a 300 metre cordon around the building after the man threw computer equipment from a fifth floor window.

Witnesses said the man, aged 49 or 50, had taken around four people hostage and had threatened to detonate gas canisters he was carrying. Police had no comment on those reports. A source said the incident was not terror-related and was thought to involve a man who had a grievance against a company.

Police in the capital are on alert as the city prepares to host the Olympic Games and celebrate the 60th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth’s reign this summer.

One office worker said she had been inside the office block when the man arrived and threatened staff.

“He turned up, strapped up with gasoline cylinders, and threatened to blow up the office,” Abby Baafi, 27, said in a video clip posted on the website of The Huffington Post, the U.S. news website that has offices in the area. Staff from the company were among those evacuated.

“He said he doesn’t care about his life. He doesn’t care about anything.”

LONDON (Reuters) – The police released grainy photos on Monday of a man suspected of shooting a former Russian banker near London’s Canary Wharf financial district in a case that has raised fears that Russian gangland violence could be spreading to Britain.

Financier German Gorbuntsov, 45, was shot five times as he entered a block of flats where he lives near the River Thames in the east of the capital on March 20.

He survived the attack, but was critically injured and is recovering in hospital where his condition was described as stable.

London’s Metropolitan Police have made no arrests in the case and say they are keeping an open mind about the motive. The inquiry is focusing on organised crime in Russia, according to unconfirmed media reports.

Gorbuntsov had been due to give evidence in an investigation into the attempted murder of a former business associate, his lawyer told Reuters last month.

More than a month after the shooting, police released grainy security camera images of a man they believe tried to murder Gorbuntsov, who once owned four Russian banks.

The pictures, taken moments after the shooting, show a tall white man wearing a dark hooded top and carrying a bag. Detectives found a gun, bag and hooded top near the scene.