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Police arrest two men in London bomb probe raids

Posted on: Monday, 1 August 2005, 16:22 CDT

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.

Source: REUTERS

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