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Government to Launch an Investigation into Suspected Bomber's Eurostar Escape

Posted on: Monday, 1 August 2005, 06:00 CDT

AN INVESTIGATION into how a suspect in the 21 July failed suicide bombings in London was able to leave Britain and flee to Italy was announced by the government yesterday, amid reports a third Islamic terror cell was on the loose.

Geoff Hoon, the Leader of the House of Commons, expressed concern over the way Osman Hussain, a suspect in the Shepherd's Bush attempted bombing, escaped aboard a Eurostar train five days after the botched attacks before making his way to Rome.

Mr Hoon was asked yesterday - as seven more arrests were made in connection with the inquiry, this time in Brighton, in East Sussex - about the checking of documents at Waterloo station. He said: "I understand that concern, and I am aware the Home Office will be looking at that.

"Certainly in recent times there has been enhanced security for those leaving the country, as well as for those coming into the UK. It is something we must continue to look at very carefully."

Paul Murphy MP, chairman of the parliamentary intelligence and security committee - which scrutinises the intelligence services - said it is to assess what lessons the agencies need to learn from the 7 and 21 July attacks.

Osman, who was said by his lawyer to be fighting extradition to the UK, was arrested by Italian police on Friday after being captured at his brother's flat on the outskirts of Rome. Police were able to track him by tracing calls made from a mobile phone belonging to his brother-in-law.

Reports yesterday suggested that, despite a massive manhunt for the fugitive bombers, whose photographs were widely published, Osman's British passport was checked only by French immigration officials at London's Waterloo rail terminal.

As the police investigation into the attempted bombings continued amid further arrests and the interrogation of four suspected bombers and a fifth linked to the cell yesterday, Osman's Italian lawyer spoke out on behalf of her client. Antonietta Sonnessa said that Osman, also known as Hamdi Isaac, has told interrogators that his failed bomb attack was a "form of protest against civilians suffering in wars".

She said: "He was not a Kamikaze. He didn't 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 organisation."

Osman was quoted by the Corriere della Sera newspaper as having said to police: "The idea that Muktar [fellow suspect Muktar Said- Ibrahim] had was to spread fear among the English. He wanted to react to the aggressive atmosphere which Muslims faced after the 7 July attacks. People gave us dirty looks in the street."

However, police and terrorism experts have dismissed any claim that the 21 July bombers did not intend to kill. Sir Ian Blair, the Met Commissioner, said that, had the bombers been successful, the carnage would have been as bad as the 7 July bombs which killed 56 and maimed many more.

Two of Osman's brothers have now been arrested by Italian police, the second yesterday. One report said that the brother, Fati Isaac, was accused of "hiding or destroying" documents. They are not believed to be directly linked to terrorism. Scotland Yard has played down speculation that they are still hunting another suicide bomber cell in Britain. Police admit they are still seeking the key players behind the attacks. "We are still searching for other people in connection with this ongoing inquiry," said a spokeswoman for Scotland Yard. "We are not talking about cells. We have never spoken about a third cell."

The investigation continued yesterday as a further seven suspects were taken into custody after raids in Brighton in connection with the 21 July attacks. It brings the number of suspects held to at least 19. Later, a man was arrested under anti-terror laws at Stockport railway station, Cheshire.

Police have been given extra time to question Yasin Hassan Omar, 24, who was captured in Birmingham on Wednesday after being disabled with a Taser stun gun. Muktar Said-Ibrahim, 27, alleged to be the Hackney bus bomber, and Ramzi Mohammed, linked to the Oval tube attack, are being questioned after their arrest in a flat on a Peabody estate in Notting Hill on Friday. Police are also questioning Wahbi Mohammed, 23, brother of Ramzi, after a raid in Tavistock Crescent, West London.

Source: Scotsman, The

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