Foreign Office officials have said that there might be ‘foul play’ involved in claims that a package containing uranium reached the UK from Pakistan.

A very small quantity of uranium was detected in a package that arrived at London’s Heathrow Airport last month in a routine check, British police said in a statement, adding that it did not appear to be linked to any direct threat nor any public health threat.

However, British media reports had soon claimed that the package came on a flight that came from Oman that originated in Pakistan.

The foreign office told Dawn that British authorities had not contacted Pakistan about a possible investigation. The officials also said suspected that Pakistan was being dragged into the matter on the basis of conjecture.

While it has been established that the flight did originate from Pakistan, officials said that the flight only carried frozen meat and garments. The uranium was found in a piece of metal, but officials insisted that there was no metal on-board the plane when it left Pakistan.

Sensational reports in the British media also speculated that the uranium might have been intended for a ‘dirty bomb’. However, British police officials clarified that the amount of uranium was too small to be dangerous.

The amount of radioactive material, detected by routine scanning on Dec. 29, was extremely small and had been assessed by experts as posing no risk, Richard Smith, head of London police’s Counter Terrorism Command said.

“We were relieved to understand there was no threat to public health or public safety,” Smith told the London Assembly.

“The consignment that had been identified included a very small amount of contaminated material. We are now conducting further inquiries.”

He said the key message was that the airport screening operation had functioned as it should. Police said no arrests had been made.

“We will of course follow every avenue to see what the background of this was and satisfy ourselves that there’s no further threat,” Smith said. “But I think these are some reassuring messages about what happened.”

Uranium can be used for civilian power generation and scientific purposes and is a key ingredient in nuclear weapons.

Certain isotopes emit radiation that can be harmful to humans, and the metal itself is toxic if ingested or inhaled.