It then spread to a huge stockpile 800 tonnes of ammonium nitrate fertilizer.

Ammonium nitrate can be purchased easily and cheaply in most countries as fertilizer.

Besides legitimate purchases, significant quantities of ammonium nitrate are occasionally stolen from dealers and other storage sites.

To this effect, the United Kingdom adopted the Ammonium Nitrate Materials (High Nitrogen Content) Safety Regulations in 2003.

These regulations establish certifiable standards and control mechanisms on ammonium nitrate based products and compounds, particularly those containing more than 28 per cent by weight of nitrogen.

Ammonium nitrate has been used by terrorists in the composition of bombs for numerous attacks, including the Oklahoma City bombing of 1995 and the Istanbul bombings of November 2003.

Al Qaida supporters arrested in the United Kingdom in March 2004 on suspicion of planning a massive explosion in central London were found to have acquired and stored over half a ton of ammonium nitrate.

Despite the difficulties of effective regulation of dual use goods, the Monitoring Team believes there is scope to introduce new measures that would limit the ability of Al Qaida and the Taliban to use commercial or improvised explosives, such as ammonium nitrate.

Economists have spent their lives attempting to evolve theories that would account for how salient features of reality might emerge if we did live in their ideal world, but since we don t, their theoretical enterprise is of doubtful utility. It is like describing how one could bake a delicious wedding cake using only honey, bicarbonate of soda, and raw eggplant.

In view of the threat posed by improvised explosives and the potential to reduce the threat through national regulatory mechanisms, the Team recommends that the Council urge States to share established legislative best practice on the matter, and encourage States that have not already done so to introduce safety regulations governing the manufacture and sale of ammonium nitrate based products with a high nitrogen content.