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by Ben Perryö ö LONDON, Jan 15 (AFP) - A knife-wielding terror suspect stabbed one police officer to death and wounded four others late Tuesday, during a raid in the northwest English city of Manchester, linked to the recent discovery of the deadly poision ricin, police said.

Three men of North African origin, all in their 20s, were arrested under anti-terrorism legislation during the police raid at a flat in the north of the city.

No officer involved in the raid was armed, while the murdered policeman and two of the injured officers were not wearing protective clothing, Greater Manchester Chief Constable Michael Todd said.

Prime Minister Tony Blair said he was "shocked and very saddened" by the killing. "It is an appalling tragedy and wicked in the extreme," he said in a written statement.

It is the first time that a British officer has been killed during an anti-terror raid since the September 11, 2001 attacks on New York and Washington.

The murdered officer, a 40-year-old father-of-three, died in hospital after receiving treatment at the scene. He and the other officers were attacked after one of the suspects broke free more than an hour after police swooped on the address at around 5:00 pm (1700 GMT).

Greater Manchester Assistant Chief Constable Alan Green said the operation was connected to the recent discovery of ricin in a London flat, which sparked fears of a planned mass attack against civilians.

Following that raid on January 5, four men of North African origin were charged under a terrorism act and a separate chemical weapons act over plotting to use the ricin.

"I am unable to give details of the counter-terrorist operation but I can confirm that it is connected to those led by the Metropolitan (London) Police in recent days," Green told reporters.

Chief Constable Todd said Tuesday's raid was "an intelligence-led operation" in which officers were seeking a specific individual.

"We had no suspicion that we were likely to find ricin on the premises -- we were looking for an individual," he added.

"There were no armed officers involved in the operation whatsoever. During the course of the search one of the suspects managed to get free, get a knife and stab a number of our officers," Todd said.

He added that the murdered officer, wearing civilian clothes, entered the flat after the arrests had been made and was out to collect intelligence. He was accompanied on his mission by other plainclothes officers and immigration officials.

Officers involved in the initial raid wore body armour.

Two plainclothes officers suffered superficial stab wounds to the chest and arm, while two officers wearing body armour suffered leg injuries. All four remained in hospital early Wednesday.

Tuesday's operation was carried out under the Terrorism Act 2000. One person was arrested under the act and two others under anti-terrorist legislation brought in after the September 11 attacks.

Of the three men arrested, one was also being questioned on suspicion of murder, while another was being transferred to London for questioning by anti-terrorism officers.

Tuesday's killing occurred a day after the four men accused of plotting to use ricin in a possible terror attack appeared in a London court for the first time.

The detained men, aged between 17 and 33, are due to appear before court again on Friday after ricin was discovered in a north London flat on January 5th.

Ricin is a highly toxic, naturally occuring substance that is extracted from the seeds and pods of the castor bean plant.

As a poison it is said to be 6,000 times more powerful than cyanide. A speck weighing only seventy microgrammes (two millionths of an ounce) -- no bigger than a grain of salt -- is enough to kill an adult.

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