LONDON : British police are keeping tight-lipped about an alleged plot by fathers' rights extremists to kidnap Prime Minister Tony Blair's five-year-old son Leo.
The Wednesday edition of the Sun mass-circulation newspaper first disclosed details of the alleged plot that was apparently in its early stages, and the BBC reported later that a police source had confirmed its existence.
However, the BBC's source said police were not convinced that those involved in the plot had the ability to carry it out.
The Sun said the plot was hatched by "extremist sympathisers" of the Fathers 4 Justice group, which mounts high-profile campaigns for fathers' rights to their children following custody battles.
Britain's biggest-selling daily said "vigilante dads" aimed to snatch Leo Blair and hold him hostage for a short period to "highlight the plight of fathers denied access to their kids".
Both London's Metropolitan Police and Blair's Downing Street office were refusing to confirm or deny the story.
A Met Police spokeswoman told AFP: "We're not commenting on this at all. We don't discuss matters of security. We're not prepared to discuss this in any way, shape or form."
The Sun cited an unnamed security source as the basis for its dispatch. Blair and his wife Cherie were said to have been told and were "concerned", it added.
Detectives from the Met's Special Branch -- which has amongst its functions investigating extremism and terrorism -- has been monitoring the "lunatic fringe" of Fathers 4 Justice, The Sun said.
The group's founder Matt O'Connor said its operations had been suspended pending investigations and vowed he would not let the group be "hijacked" by extremists.
"There's evidence to support the fact that there was something going on, because SO13 officers (the Met's anti-terrorist unit) had visited some ex-members of the organisation over the Christmas period," he said.
"That had set alarm bells ringing."
O'Connor said police contacts had said SO13 "were threatening to shoot people if they did anything in the region of Downing Street".
He added: "I have three young boys myself and couldn't think of anything more traumatic for Mr Blair, his family and his son.
"If our position is constantly undermined by extremists, we will shut down the Fathers 4 Justice campaign.
"I will not let this organisation be hijacked by militants.
"We do peaceful direct action with a dash of humour. We're in the business of uniting dads with their kids, not separating them," he said.
Graham Dudman, The Sun's managing editor, told the BBC: "The police took this very seriously because, of course, Fathers 4 Justice have been involved in some pretty spectacular stunts."
Fathers 4 Justice has staged a number of high-profile stunts around Britain in recent years to highlight what they deem to be unfair child custody laws.
Their demonstrations -- in which protesters are often dressed as superheroes -- usually involve breaching security and occupying notable landmarks.
Activists have in the past egged Blair's car, scaled St Paul's Cathedral and the London Eye ferris wheel. They once hit Blair with purple powder during a speech in parliament.
Protesters even scaled onto a ledge at Buckingham Palace, the official London residence of Britain's Queen Elizabeth II.
The rarely-seen Leo George Blair has always been a focus of media attention, being the first baby born to a serving British prime minister for more than 150 years.
The Blairs have sought to keep him, like his siblings Euan, 22 on Thursday, Nicholas, 21, and 17-year-old Kathryn, out of the media spotlight.
Just weeks after the birth, the Blairs issued the first of several calls for privacy after pictures of a sleeping Leo taken by a group of schoolchildren were printed.
The Sun said exact details of the plot were not revealed and no arrests had been made.
But police believe the conspirators were from a breakaway element of the group who believe the mainstream protesters are not radical enough, it added. - AFP /dt