Egyptian chemist cleared

2005-08-09 21:50

Cairo - An Egyptian chemist released on Tuesday after three weeks in custody for questioning about connection with the July 7 terrorist attacks in London said he knew two of the suicide bombers casually and called one of them "very kind and very nice."

The clean-shaven Magdy el-Nashar told reporters outside his home that he had nothing to do with the bombings that killed at least 56 people on three London subway trains and a bus.

"I am very happy for my innocence and Egypt's innocence, my first country, but sad for what happened in Britain, my second country," said el-Nashar, who had studied at Britain's University of Leeds since 2000, earning a doctorate in biochemistry in April.

The soft-spoken el-Nashar, 33, was released before dawn and went straight to his south Cairo home, surprising his father, mother and brother.

He was arrested by Egyptian authorities at the request of Britain a week after the bombings, which he called a crime "against humanity and religions."

El-Nashar explained that he met one of the suicide bombers, Jamaican-born Jermaine Lindsay in Leeds during the last Muslim month of fasting, Ramadan, in October and November.

El-Nashar said Lindsay asked him in June for help finding a place to live in Leeds before he moved there from London with his wife and child.

El-Nashar said he found quarters for Lindsay through his landlord and then was introduced by Lindsay to a man called Mohammed, who turn out to be Hasib Hussain, another of the July 7 bombers. Hussain said he had a van and would help move Lindsay's belongings from London.

El-Nashar said he helped Lindsay because he was a "new convert (to Islam). He was very kind and very nice. I'm a social person, I like people. I was happy helping... rent an apartment, doing something kind to please God."

The chemist, a devout Muslim, said Islam was not an issue in the attacks, and he called the suicide bombers "young, emotional and ignorant"

"Their knowledge of Islam was very superficial," he said. "They have seen oppression in Iraq, Palestine, Afghanistan and Bosnia."

- AP