All bomb suspects charged

2005-08-08 08:27

London - The prime suspects behind failed July 21 bomb attacks on London were due to appear in court on Monday, as a key suspect in the more deadly blasts two weeks earlier was deported to Britain from Zambia.

Scotland Yard said on Sunday it had charged three men, including two of the suspected July 21 bombers, with attempted murder, conspiracy to murder and possession of explosives, after charging a first suspect on Saturday.

The new charges mean all the key suspects in the failed attacks have now been charged: three in Britain plus Hamdi Issac, also known as Hussain Osman, who has been indicted in Italy and is awaiting extradition proceedings.

Mokhtar Said Ibrahim, 27, suspected of trying to detonate a bomb on a Number 26 bus, and Ramzi Mohammed, suspected of trying to blow up an Underground train at Oval station, were charged with attempted murder and conspiracy to murder, Scotland Yard said.

A day earlier Somali-born Yassin Hassan Omar, 24, was charged with attempted murder, conspiracy and possession of explosives over the attempt to bomb the Underground station at Warren Street in central London.

Suspects held in high security prison

All are to appear before a judge in a high security prison on Monday over the bombings.

Hamdi Issac, the only key suspect not yet behind bars in Britain, has been held in Rome's Regina Coeli prison since his arrest on July 29, several days after he fled Britain by Eurostar train.

The 27-year-old Ethiopian-born Briton, who has a hearing scheduled for August 17, has been charged in Italy with "international terrorism" in connection with a failed attack on the Shepherd's Bush Tube station.

Police said a third man, Manfo Kwaku Asiedu, 32, was charged on Sunday with conspiracy to murder and possession of explosives. He is charged over an unexploded device found at Little Wormwood Scrubs park in west London on July 23, according to the BBC and Sky News television.

A total of 39 arrests have been carried out in Britain in connection with the London attacks.

Alleged mastermind held

Meanwhile, Haroon Aswat, a Briton apprehended in Zambia two weeks ago reportedly wanted in connection with the deadly July 7 bomb attacks in London, was arrested on his arrival in Britain on Sunday after being deported from Lusaka, Scotland Yard announced.

Aswat, 30, will appear before a court convened in Belmarsh high security prison, south of London.

He has been named in United States and British media reports as the alleged mastermind behind the July 7 blasts that killed 56 people including the four suicide bombers, but this has not been confirmed by British police.

US media said that US police and intelligence agencies were taking part in the hunt for Aswat.

They said the four suicide bombers behind the July 7 attacks had made about 20 calls to him on his mobile telephone.

British newspapers have reported that Aswat had told his captors he was once a bodyguard for al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

- AFP