31 Jul 2005 22:38:00 GMT
Source: Reuters
By Phil Stewart and Michael Holden
ROME/LONDON, July 31 (Reuters) - A prime suspect in the second wave of London bombings has told Italian detectives he took part in the attacks on the city's transport system as British police quizzed three other suspected bombers on Sunday.
A judicial source with direct contact to the man confirmed Italian media reports that Osman Hussain, arrested in Rome on Friday, has said he participated in the July 21 failed attacks.
"Yes, yes. I can confirm that," the source told Reuters. He gave no further details.
Hussain's court-appointed lawyer Antonietta Sonnessa told Britain's ITV news that Hussain had no links to the July 7 bombers and had no idea where his explosives came from.
"He is not a violent person. He did everything possible to ensure his actions did not provoke any injuries, damage or death."
Sonnessa added Hussain was not a suicide bomber.
"He was not a kamikaze, he did not want to blow anything up at all. He cannot give any help to police for the simple fact that he is not associated with any terrorist organization."
British police on Sunday arrested a man under anti-terrorism laws at a railway station in northern England, but said their action was not linked to the July bombings in London.
He was later released without charge.
The man was held at Stockport railway station, 210 miles (340 km) northwest of London, after reports he was acting suspiciously.
Earlier in the day, police arrested six men and one woman in southern England under anti-terrorism laws in connection with the attempted bombings on July 21, but a police source said the arrests were not a significant development in the inquiry.
Sonnessa has also suggested Hussain, an Ethiopian-born British citizen, may try to resist extradition to Britain.
UNDERGROUND TRAINS
London police believe they have captured all four men they were seeking over the July 21 botched bombings on three underground trains and a bus, which came two weeks after four bombers killed themselves and 52 people in similar attacks.
After an international manhunt for suspected Islamist militants which culminated in a swoop on a housing estate in west London on Friday, three of the men are in custody in London and the fourth in Rome.
Officers, who warn of new strikes, are still looking for anyone who may have helped the bombers.
"We are still searching for the people who put the jobs together," said a police spokeswoman.
As Britons worry about fresh attacks, media said the police and security forces were trying to track down any further cells and a possible command structure behind the bombers.
Security experts described al Qaeda's pyramid structure.
"If you see the two groups of bombers as two separate teams of foot soldiers on the very bottom, then there is a possibility they are linked by the command structure in the level above," a security source told The Observer.
A Zambian intelligence source said in Lusaka on Saturday the authorities had signed a deportation order for suspected British militant Haroon Rashid Aswad, who would be handed over to Britain once formalities were completed.
British police would like to question him but say he is not a priority in the London bombings investigation.
AlertNet news
Monday, August 01, 2005
BAMAKO: Mali’s Gao Governor Colonel Amadou Baba Toure on Sunday announced an immediate ban on the activities of a group of Pakistani Islamists living in the zone along the border with Algeria.
Hundreds of Pakistanis have arrived in Mali as part of a humanitarian aid and education effort, though once on the ground they turn their focus to preaching hard line positions that are not in line with the Muslim practice in the region, said Toure. He said, “We cannot accept that just anyone can come here and preach however they see fit.”
Though the group has not been formally identified as belonging to any particular sect, they preach an Islam that is “pure and hard,” according to a municipal official, and are indoctrinating their disciples into an Islam that does not oppose violence. (afp)