London bomb suspect held in Egypt

An Egyptian chemistry student wanted by police following last week’s bomb attacks in London has been arrested in Cairo, it has emerged.

Magdi al-Nashar, 33, is suspected of helping to make the bombs which blew up three Tube trains and a bus during the morning rush hour last Thursday.

Mr al-Nashar is believed to have left the UK a few weeks before the attacks. Police searching a flat in the Hyde Park area of Leeds linked to him discovered explosives there on Tuesday. Around 600 residents living in the area had to be evacuated while controlled explosions were carried out.

However, Mr Al-Nashar has not officially been named as a suspect.

Police have revealed that the material used to make the explosives used in the London attacks is an easily available chemical - the same type that ‘shoe-bomber’ Richard Reid used in his attempt to blow up a trans-Atlantic flight in 2001.

It has also been reported that a suspected al-Qaeda member came to Britain through a Channel port two weeks before the attacks. His name is believed to have been on a security watch list, but he was not placed under surveillance, because he was not considered a high enough risk. He is believed to have left the UK hours before the attacks.

Police have confirmed the identity of two of the bombers. Twenty-two-year-old Shehzad Tanweer blew up the Tube train between Aldgate and Liverpool Street, while eighteen-year-old Hasib Hussain blew up the Number 30 bus in Tavistock Square. Mohammed Sadique Khan, 30, is believed to have blown up the Edgware Road train. All three are from the Leeds area and are of Pakistani descent, although they were all born in Britain.

The fourth bomber has not been officially named, but is believed to be Jamaican-born Lindsey Germaine. Mr Germaine, who lived in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, is thought to have been responsible for the blast on the Piccadilly Line between King’s Cross and Russell Square. His home has been searched as part of the inquiry.

On Thursday, police released CCTV footage of Mr Hussain. Detectives are trying to establish why the bus blast occurred at 09:47 BST, almost an hour after the three Tube train blasts. Police are trying to discover if Hussain was forced to change his plans at the last minute after being unable to blow up a Tube train.

Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Ian Blair said that the four bombers were the “foot soldiers” in the attack and said that police were trying to find “who encouraged them, who trained them and who is the chemist”. He also said that police expected to find a “clear al-Qaeda link” to the attacks.

It has now been confirmed that 54 people have died following the terror attacks, following the announcement that a man injured in the Tavistock Square bus blast has died in hospital. 700 people were also injured in the attacks.

(KMcA/GB)