Police arrest two men in London bomb probe raids

LONDON (Reuters) – British police arrested two men under
anti-terrorism laws in south London on Monday in raids linked
to the July 21 attempts to bomb the capital, a police spokesman
said.

The men were arrested during police searches of properties
in the Clapham area and nearby Stockwell, where police shot
dead a Brazilian man they mistook for a suspected suicide
bomber on July 22.

Amateur video footage broadcast on the BBC showed armed
police wearing black masks surrounding a man pinned against the
front of a red-brick house in Stockwell.

Police wearing blue-hooded overalls dressed the suspect in
an all-in-one suit, which is designed to preserve any forensic
evidence.

“They were arrested on suspicion of the commission,
preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism,” the spokesman
said. “They are in custody at a central London police station.”

No more details of those arrested were released.

Detectives are questioning 18 others held as part of the
probe into the July 21 attacks, the biggest operation for
London’s police since World War II.

Suicide bombers killed 52 people in attacks on three
underground trains and a bus in central London on July 7. Two
weeks later, a gang left four more bombs on the transport
system, but the devices failed to go off.

Police say they have arrested the four men they believe
were behind the July 21 attacks. One suspect was held in Italy
on Friday.

Italian police said Hamdi Issac — also known as Osman
Hussein – fled to family and friends in Italy, instead of
criminals, after the failed second wave of bombings in London.
They said he was more likely part of a rag-tag group of
amateurs than a broad Islamic militant network.

His Italian lawyer has repeatedly suggested Hamdi will
resist extradition.