08-01-2005, 06:40 PM
<b>POLICE SEIZE EIGHT MORE IN ENGLAND:</b>
British police widened their hunt for suspected terrorists Sunday,
seizing eight people in the north and south of the country in
what appeared to be a quest for a support network behind the London bombers.
/ A4
Monday, August 01, 2005
<span style='font-size:22pt;line-height:100%'><b>LONDON BLASTS:
Fears of another attack on London </b>
LONDON, Sun.
Fears mounted today that another wave of attacks was heading London's way as British police tried to pin down the network behind the previous bombers and the suspects already in custody began to talk.
A British newspaper said another cell was planning follow-up attacks to the July 7 suicide blasts that killed 56 people and the botched July 21 bombings.
A member of the alleged July 21 cell, fighting extradition from Rome, denied he had links to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda terror group and said the attacks were \"just a gesture\".
At least three men wanted over the attacks were being interrogated by police in London.
Britain was also seeking access to the reported ring- leader of the July 7 blasts, British national Haroon Aswat, who was arrested in Zambia on July 20.
The Sunday Times said a third terror cell was planning multiple suicide bomb attacks on London.
The weekly said they were on the loose and planning further blasts on \"soft\" targets like the Underground subway network.
The newspaper said intelligence of a third cell with access to explosives and plans to hit London was known to British police, who have not retracted Friday's statement, \"the threat remains and is very real\".
The group was said to be independent of the previous bombers but members were associated with some of the suspects nabbed over the July 21 attacks.
A Metropolitan Police firearms officer told the newspaper the arrests so far were \"just the tip of the iceberg\".
\"There is big stuff coming in the next few months. There's a big network that's got to be cracked.\"
British detectives were continuing to grill July 21 suspects at the high-security Paddington Green police station.
Eritrean-born Muktar Said Ibrahim, 27, is accused of trying to blow up a Number 26 double-decker bus, and Ramzi Mohammed is suspected of the bungled bombing at Oval Underground train station.
Another suspected cell member, Somali-born Yassin Hassan Omar, 24, suspected of attempting to blow up a subway train at Warren Street station, is reportedly co-operating with police.
A British Sunday newspaper revealed a bag feared to have been meant to aid further bombers enter and exit Britain was found abandoned at London's Heathrow Airport, stuffed with fake passports, documents and bank cards.
The News of the World called the find a \"potential terrorist goldmine\".
The 19 passports were for Pakistani, British, Indian, Nepalese and South African nationals.
The holdall also contained a letter written to a Muslim in Dewsbury, northern England ' home to July 7 suicide bomber Mohammed Sidique Khan.
Zambian police confirmed yesterday that Aswat was arrested on July 20 in Lusaka. The British Foreign Office has said it is seeking access to a man being held by the Zambian authorities.
\"His arrest follows on-going security investigations on the threat of terrorism to which Aswat is alleged to be connected,\" Zambian police inspector-general Ephraim Maateyo said.
\"He entered the country on July 6. He is a British national and is currently in the custody of Zambian security authorities.\" - AFP
<b>Rome suspect links bombings to Iraq</b>
ROME, Sun.
One of the suspects in the failed London bombings has told police that the attempted attack was revenge for the US-led military operation in Iraq, an Italian newspaper reported today.
\"The bombs of July 7 in London? That happens every day in Iraq,\" the suspect, Osman Hussain, was quoted as saying by the daily La Repubblica during his interrogation.
\"We met each other at a muscle-building class in Notting Hill and Muktar (Said Ibrahim) showed us DVDs with images of the war in Iraq, especially women and children killed by American and British soldiers,\" he reportedly said, referring to another suspect who is being held in London.
Osman Hussain, alias Issac Hamdi, 27, has said he wants to stay in Italy, where he was arrested on Friday, and does not wish to be extradited to Britain.
He has denied having links with al-Qaeda, the Italian news agency Ansa reported yesterday.
\"I have no connection with al-Qaeda,\" he was reported to have told Italian magistrates.
\"I joined the class and was told we had to act to avenge our people who had been arrested, thrown into prison after the July 7 bombings,\" the Ethiopian-born naturalised Briton reportedly said.
\"A signal had to be given and we did it, but we did not intend to kill anybody. It was just a gesture,\" he said, adding that he had no links with the four July 7 suicide bombers, three of whom were of Pakistani origin.
The July 7 attacks resulted in 56 deaths, including the four bombers. In a virtual carbon copy attack on July 21, devices failed to explode fully on three subway trains and a bus. - AFP</span>
British police widened their hunt for suspected terrorists Sunday,
seizing eight people in the north and south of the country in
what appeared to be a quest for a support network behind the London bombers.
/ A4
Monday, August 01, 2005
<span style='font-size:22pt;line-height:100%'><b>LONDON BLASTS:
Fears of another attack on London </b>
LONDON, Sun.
Fears mounted today that another wave of attacks was heading London's way as British police tried to pin down the network behind the previous bombers and the suspects already in custody began to talk.
A British newspaper said another cell was planning follow-up attacks to the July 7 suicide blasts that killed 56 people and the botched July 21 bombings.
A member of the alleged July 21 cell, fighting extradition from Rome, denied he had links to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda terror group and said the attacks were \"just a gesture\".
At least three men wanted over the attacks were being interrogated by police in London.
Britain was also seeking access to the reported ring- leader of the July 7 blasts, British national Haroon Aswat, who was arrested in Zambia on July 20.
The Sunday Times said a third terror cell was planning multiple suicide bomb attacks on London.
The weekly said they were on the loose and planning further blasts on \"soft\" targets like the Underground subway network.
The newspaper said intelligence of a third cell with access to explosives and plans to hit London was known to British police, who have not retracted Friday's statement, \"the threat remains and is very real\".
The group was said to be independent of the previous bombers but members were associated with some of the suspects nabbed over the July 21 attacks.
A Metropolitan Police firearms officer told the newspaper the arrests so far were \"just the tip of the iceberg\".
\"There is big stuff coming in the next few months. There's a big network that's got to be cracked.\"
British detectives were continuing to grill July 21 suspects at the high-security Paddington Green police station.
Eritrean-born Muktar Said Ibrahim, 27, is accused of trying to blow up a Number 26 double-decker bus, and Ramzi Mohammed is suspected of the bungled bombing at Oval Underground train station.
Another suspected cell member, Somali-born Yassin Hassan Omar, 24, suspected of attempting to blow up a subway train at Warren Street station, is reportedly co-operating with police.
A British Sunday newspaper revealed a bag feared to have been meant to aid further bombers enter and exit Britain was found abandoned at London's Heathrow Airport, stuffed with fake passports, documents and bank cards.
The News of the World called the find a \"potential terrorist goldmine\".
The 19 passports were for Pakistani, British, Indian, Nepalese and South African nationals.
The holdall also contained a letter written to a Muslim in Dewsbury, northern England ' home to July 7 suicide bomber Mohammed Sidique Khan.
Zambian police confirmed yesterday that Aswat was arrested on July 20 in Lusaka. The British Foreign Office has said it is seeking access to a man being held by the Zambian authorities.
\"His arrest follows on-going security investigations on the threat of terrorism to which Aswat is alleged to be connected,\" Zambian police inspector-general Ephraim Maateyo said.
\"He entered the country on July 6. He is a British national and is currently in the custody of Zambian security authorities.\" - AFP
<b>Rome suspect links bombings to Iraq</b>
ROME, Sun.
One of the suspects in the failed London bombings has told police that the attempted attack was revenge for the US-led military operation in Iraq, an Italian newspaper reported today.
\"The bombs of July 7 in London? That happens every day in Iraq,\" the suspect, Osman Hussain, was quoted as saying by the daily La Repubblica during his interrogation.
\"We met each other at a muscle-building class in Notting Hill and Muktar (Said Ibrahim) showed us DVDs with images of the war in Iraq, especially women and children killed by American and British soldiers,\" he reportedly said, referring to another suspect who is being held in London.
Osman Hussain, alias Issac Hamdi, 27, has said he wants to stay in Italy, where he was arrested on Friday, and does not wish to be extradited to Britain.
He has denied having links with al-Qaeda, the Italian news agency Ansa reported yesterday.
\"I have no connection with al-Qaeda,\" he was reported to have told Italian magistrates.
\"I joined the class and was told we had to act to avenge our people who had been arrested, thrown into prison after the July 7 bombings,\" the Ethiopian-born naturalised Briton reportedly said.
\"A signal had to be given and we did it, but we did not intend to kill anybody. It was just a gesture,\" he said, adding that he had no links with the four July 7 suicide bombers, three of whom were of Pakistani origin.
The July 7 attacks resulted in 56 deaths, including the four bombers. In a virtual carbon copy attack on July 21, devices failed to explode fully on three subway trains and a bus. - AFP</span>