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All Four Captured Bomb Suspects Held After Police Raids in London and Rome

Posted on: Saturday, 30 July 2005, 15:00 CDT

ALL four members of a suspected suicide bomb gang were in custody last night after dramatic armed raids in London and Rome.

Anti-terror police captured Britain's three most wanted men in the space of a few hours after eight days on the run following the botched July 21 attacks on London's transport network.

Two were held in a swoop on a flat at the Peabody Buildings, a huge block of flats in west London. One identified himself to police as Muktar SaidIbrahim, 27, who allegedly tried to blow himself up on a number 26 bus in Hackney on July 21.

The other said he was Ramzi Mohammed. Police are believed to suspect he was behind the attempted bombing near Oval Tube station on the same day.

In dramatic footage shown on television last night, police could be heard shouting:

"You're going to be dead unless you open up this door."After a siege, CS gas was fired into the building and the men made to strip down to their underwear when they came out.

A third man was held in Rome. The deputy assistant commissioner, Peter Clarke, head of the Metropolitan Police's anti-terrorist branch, said he had been identified as Hussain Osman and was "of interest to the investigation".

The Italian authorities described him as a Somali, and a naturalised British citizen. It is thought police believe he attempted to blow himself up on a Tube train at Shepherd's Bush on July 21.

Reports from Italy said Osman was 27 and had a brother living in Rome.

According to unconfirmed reports, he was traced through mobile telephone contacts after fleeing to Italy. Police are believed to have monitored the mobile phone as it moved from London to Paris, then Milan to Rome, to the brother's flat.

The fourth suspect, Yasin Hassan Omar, a 24-year-old Somali alleged to have tried to set off a bomb on a train near Warren Street, was held during an operation in Birmingham on Wednesday.

Detectives believe there was also a fifth bomber because a fifth device was found on Saturday in a rucksack dumped on open ground at Little Wormwood Scrubs, a few hundred yards from yesterday's operation. It is believed the fifth bomber may have tried to detonate his device on a bus or train but no-one noticed and he dumped it.

Another man was arrested in a raid yesterday in Tavistock Crescent, Notting Hill, about a mile from Peabody Buildings, which is near the Wormwood Scrubs prison. It was not clear whether police believe he was linked to the fifth device.

Although the four main suspects were in custody, Mr Clarke remained cautious. He did not connect any of the men with any of the specific bomb attempts and added: "We must not be complacent. The threat remains and is very real."

Within hours of his statement, police were raiding an address in the Old Kent Road area, but no arrests were made.

Mr Clarke also confirmed "another man of interest to the investigation has been detained in Rome. We have been liaising with the Italian authorities, a European arrest warrant has been issued and we will be seeking the return of that man to this country."

He said the name on the warrant was Hussain Osman.

A Briton held in Zambia in connection with the terrorist bombings told Zambian investigators that he had once been a bodyguard for Osama bin Laden, officials said yesterday.

The Zambian officials also said investigators were questioning Haroon Rashid Aswat about 20 telephone calls he allegedly made to some of the men thought to have set off the July 7 bombs.

Scotland Yard has refused to discuss this.

A police source confirmed last night that no shots were fired in yesterday's operations and there were no injuries.

Explosions reported by witnesses were the sounds of officers blowing off the door to the flat at Peabody Buildings.

The source said the next stage of the investigation would focus on establishing whether the suspects had a support network and establishing links with any other individuals.

The main raid involved plain-clothes anti-terrorist branch detectives and armed officers from Scotland Yard's SO19 unit.

In the pictures shown on TV, two shirtless men are seen after emerging from a flat on to a walkway as armed police shout orders at them. Both men are seen spitting and clearing their noses, possibly a result of gas police used to stun them.

A witness said one of the suspects was heard shouting: "I've got rights."

In the other raid less than a mile away, dozens of officers, some wearing gas masks, swooped on the Tavistock Crescent area of Notting Hill, clearing a wide area and cordoning off streets.

Snipers were stationed behind parked cars.

Armed police also arrested two women at Liverpool Street station in the City of London.

The suspects were pinned to the ground, witnesses said.

The operation was carried out by Scotland Yard officers.

Both the mainline station and the Underground station were evacuated while police looked at a number of suspect packages.

Witnesses said that the two women were in Muslim dress.

They were arrested close to the Stansted Express ticket office and handcuffed on the ground.

Source: Herald, The; Glasgow (UK)

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