Bomb suspect linked to Osama

2005-07-30 16:14

London - Haroon Rashid Aswat, the Briton held in Zambia linked to the London terror attacks, has told his captors he was once Osama bin Laden's bodyguard, British newspapers said on Saturday.

British officials are refusing to comment on reports that Aswat is the suspected mastermind behind the July 7 blasts that killed 56 people, including four suicide bombers.

Zambian authorities on Friday were trying to verify the identity of a man arrested last week amid reports that he may have been behind attacks, an intelligence source there told AFP.

Earlier this week, reports in the Los Angeles Times and on CNN television identified the man as Aswat.

"A British militant seized in Zambia linked to the London bombings has reportedly told his captors that he was once a bodyguard for Osama bin Laden," The Times said.

Tabloid The Sun, Britain's biggest-selling daily, also carried the story.

The Times claimed Zambian officials said Aswat told them of his closeness to the al-Qaeda terror network leader, but he did not reveal when he last contacted Bin Laden.

The Times said Aswat was named in US Federal Bureau of Investigation documents it had seen as being a key al-Qaeda figure.

Aswat is also wanted in the United States over attempts to set up a terrorist training camp in Bly, Oregon.

The suspect's Indian-born father, Rashid Aswat, 59, lives in Batley in northern England, close to Leeds where three of the July 7 bombers hailed from.

"I've been living in this country for 40 years and we've never dreamt about something like this happening," Rashid Aswat told The Times.

"Islam does not permit suicides. You can't find it anywhere in the Qu'ran. This is a sad time for everybody."

He said he had not seen his son for over a decade, when he left home saying he wanted to become a jihadi fighter.

- AFP