LONDON,
July 31, 2005 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – A would-be
London bomber arrested by Italian police has told investigators that
he and three fellows were motivated by the Iraq war and not by
religious fervor, denying any link to Al-Qaeda network.
"We
met each other at a muscle-building class in Notting Hill and Muktar
(Said Ibrahim) showed us some DVDs with images of the war in Iraq,
especially women and children killed by American and British
soldiers," Osman Hussain, suspected of attempting to blow up
commuters in west London on July 21, was quoted as saying by Italy’s
La Repubblica newspaper Sunday, July 31.
Hussain
said films on the atrocities committed by US and British occupation
soldiers in Iraq helped to foster the group's "political
conviction that it is necessary to give a signal, to do
something."
The
Italian Interior Ministry confirmed that the quotes from Hussain's
interrogation in La Repubblica were authentic but declined to
comment on the source of the leaks, reported the Independent Sunday.
The
27-year-old Ethiopian-born Briton, also known as Isaac Hamdi, was
arrested Friday, July 29, after Italian police had tracked his mobile
phone number – provided by the British -- through France and Italy
before his arrival in Rome by train.
His
first stage of a preliminary extradition hearing was held Saturday,
July 30, but Rome's Court of Appeal may rule he should remain in Italy
as part of an investigation into the killing of an Italian citizen in
the 7 July bombings, according to the Independent.
In
an obvious retreat from his earlier stance, British Prime Minister
Tony Blair acknowledged on July 26 that the Iraq war was being used to
recruit terrorists.
An
ICM poll for the Guardian found on July 19 that two-thirds of
Britons believe the July 7 bombings in were linked to Blair's support
for the US-led invasion of Iraq.
The
"ill-considered venture" of invading Iraq has turned into a
"mess" fueling attacks around the world and providing
Al-Qaeda with sympathizers across the Muslim world, award-winning
British reporter Patrick Cockburn wrote in the Independent on
July 25.
Climate
of Hatred
Hussain
denied links to the London bombings that killed 52 people and the four
bombers on Thursday, July 7, saying they were surprised by the
attacks.
"We
have no link with the Pakistanis," he said.
However,
his group reportedly took the 7 July carnage as a signal that it
should also act.
"We
had to do something. We had to react to the climate of hatred and
hostility that was created after the 7 July bombs. We were not
supposed to kill anyone. That bomb would not have been able to cause
victims."
Hussain
also denied any link to Al-Qaeda network.
"We
never had contacts with the Bin Laden organization. We knew that they
existed. We had access to their platforms through the internet, but
nothing direct."
Eritrean-born
Ibrahim, a would-be bomber, was arrested in west London on Friday. He
is accused of trying to blow up a Number 26 double-decker bus.
The
second, Ramzi Mohammad, is suspected of trying to set off his device
in The Oval Underground train station.
A
third, 24-year-old Somali-born Yassin Hassan Omar, was detained in a
raid in the central city of Birmingham on Wednesday, July 27. He is
wanted for the attempted bombing of a Victoria Line train near Warren
Street.
The
Metropolitan Police released the "girlfriends" of Ibrahim
and Mohammad after being arrested Friday heading for London Stansted
airport.
The
Sunday Mirror quoted a security source
as saying the pair were now being treated as witnesses rather than
suspects.
Meanwhile,
the family of Zambian-held London bombings suspect Haroon Aswat said
they feared he may be extradited to face torture in the United States,
and criticized Britain's handling of the situation.
The
British national is suspected of links to the July 7 London bombings
and is also wanted by US authorities over alleged attempts to set up a
terrorist training camp in Bly, Oregon.
Third
Group
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Police officers maintain cordon outside flats in west London. (Reuters)
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In
another development, British security sources told the Sunday Times
that a third terror cell is planning multiple suicide bomb attacks on
London, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).
The
sources said that the terrorists were on the loose and planning
further blasts on "soft" targets in the center of the city
such as the Underground subway network.
The
Times said intelligence of a third cell with access to
explosives and plans to hit London with a third wave of attacks
sparked Thursday's unprecedented deployment of 6,000 police officers
on the city's streets.
A
member of the Metropolitan Police's firearms unit which nabbed the
suspected bombers Friday told the Sunday Times: "What we
did on Friday was just the tip of the iceberg.
"There
is some big stuff coming in the next few months. There's a big network
that's got to be cracked."
British
police were holding Sunday a total of 11 suspects in custody over the
two waves of London bomb attacks this month.
All
are being held on suspicion of being behind acts of terrorism, or
harboring fugitives.
Searches
have taken place at 14 addresses in London and two in Birmingham.
Fake
Passports
The
investigations have now generated over 5,300 separate police actions
and detectives are examining 8,500 documents and 35,000 closed circuit
television tapes.
A
bag stuffed with bogus passports, documents and bank cards was found
abandoned at London's Heathrow Airport, Britain's The News of the
World reported Sunday.
The
paper called the find a "potential terrorist goldmine" and
said anti-terrorist officers were urgently probing the discovery.
The
bag was spotted by a taxi driver on a verge near London's main airport
on Thursday.
The
19 passports inside were for Pakistani, British, Indian, Nepalese and
South African nationals.
The
newspaper said pictures of the same men appear on different passports
in different names.
Many
passports had fake visas in different shades of ink from genuine
documents.
