Text
LONDON, July 27 - In a major breakthrough in the London bombing investigation, British security forces arrested four men in Birmingham early today, one of whom is believed to be a would-be suicide bomber in the attempted attack on subways and a bus on July 21.
Police officers stand outside at a house in Birmingham, England, today after it was raided and three people were arrested.
Yasin Hassan Omar, a 24-year-old Somali, was taken into custody today for questioning.
The man, who was taken to London for questioning, is Yasin Hassan Omar, a 24-year-old Somali, according to the BBC and other news media reports. Mr. Omar is believed to have carried a rucksack with explosives on to a subway, tried to detonate it, and then fled, according to media reports.
Police had released a photograph of Mr. Omar, which was taken by closed-circuit television in the Warren Street subway station.
Police in Birmingham raided a house at 4:30 a.m., arresting a man after shooting him with a stun gun. Officials said he was wearing a rucksack and tussled with police, the BBC reported. They also found a suspicious package, which was being scrutinized by explosives experts.
Three other men were arrested later in another house in Birmingham, 120 miles north of London, and are being held there. Police evacuated about 100 houses on the tree-lined street where the first man was arrested, and were preparing to conduct a controlled explosion, the BBC reported.
The arrests came in the midst of a massive manhunt launched by police after four men tried to detonate explosives in London on July 21, two weeks after suicide bombings that killed 52 people. The major question, as yet unanswered, is whether there was a link between the two incidents.
Separately, two men were taken off a train by police in Lincolnshire on Tuesday night, and are being held under the Prevention of Terrorism Act. The train was headed to London's King Cross Station. It was not clear whether these men are linked to either of the London bombings.
Police released photographs of the four men suspected in the July 21 bombing attempts, and the names of two, both of whom are at large. Muktar Said Ibrahim, 27, and Yasin Hussan Omar, 24, are children of asylum seekers from Africa. They have lived in Britain since 1992.
On Tuesday, officials at Scotland Yard said they found traces of explosives at an apartment in North London, in which one of the suspects, Mr. Omar, lived. Chemicals were also found in the garage of the complex.
As the investigation unfolded, the body of a Brazilian man accidentally shot to death by police in a London subway car last Friday, was flown home to his family. The shooting has put pressure on the police, who practice a policy of shoot-to-kill with suspected terrorists.
In an interview with Channel Four News, the chief of the metropolitan police, Sir Ian Blair, said there had been 250 incidents since July 7, in which police believed they were pursuing a suicide bomber. Seven came close to ending like the case of Jean Charles de Menezes, the Brazilian electrician who was shot seven times to the head and once to the shoulder in a subway station in south London.
"I know that when I last saw it, there had been seven times when we got as close to calling it as 'that' and we haven't," Sir Ian said.
Good job in catching these thugs. :thumbsup:
LONDON, July 27 - In a major breakthrough in the London bombing investigation, British security forces arrested four men in Birmingham early today, one of whom is believed to be a would-be suicide bomber in the attempted attack on subways and a bus on July 21.
Police officers stand outside at a house in Birmingham, England, today after it was raided and three people were arrested.
Yasin Hassan Omar, a 24-year-old Somali, was taken into custody today for questioning.
The man, who was taken to London for questioning, is Yasin Hassan Omar, a 24-year-old Somali, according to the BBC and other news media reports. Mr. Omar is believed to have carried a rucksack with explosives on to a subway, tried to detonate it, and then fled, according to media reports.
Police had released a photograph of Mr. Omar, which was taken by closed-circuit television in the Warren Street subway station.
Police in Birmingham raided a house at 4:30 a.m., arresting a man after shooting him with a stun gun. Officials said he was wearing a rucksack and tussled with police, the BBC reported. They also found a suspicious package, which was being scrutinized by explosives experts.
Three other men were arrested later in another house in Birmingham, 120 miles north of London, and are being held there. Police evacuated about 100 houses on the tree-lined street where the first man was arrested, and were preparing to conduct a controlled explosion, the BBC reported.
The arrests came in the midst of a massive manhunt launched by police after four men tried to detonate explosives in London on July 21, two weeks after suicide bombings that killed 52 people. The major question, as yet unanswered, is whether there was a link between the two incidents.
Separately, two men were taken off a train by police in Lincolnshire on Tuesday night, and are being held under the Prevention of Terrorism Act. The train was headed to London's King Cross Station. It was not clear whether these men are linked to either of the London bombings.
Police released photographs of the four men suspected in the July 21 bombing attempts, and the names of two, both of whom are at large. Muktar Said Ibrahim, 27, and Yasin Hussan Omar, 24, are children of asylum seekers from Africa. They have lived in Britain since 1992.
On Tuesday, officials at Scotland Yard said they found traces of explosives at an apartment in North London, in which one of the suspects, Mr. Omar, lived. Chemicals were also found in the garage of the complex.
As the investigation unfolded, the body of a Brazilian man accidentally shot to death by police in a London subway car last Friday, was flown home to his family. The shooting has put pressure on the police, who practice a policy of shoot-to-kill with suspected terrorists.
In an interview with Channel Four News, the chief of the metropolitan police, Sir Ian Blair, said there had been 250 incidents since July 7, in which police believed they were pursuing a suicide bomber. Seven came close to ending like the case of Jean Charles de Menezes, the Brazilian electrician who was shot seven times to the head and once to the shoulder in a subway station in south London.
"I know that when I last saw it, there had been seven times when we got as close to calling it as 'that' and we haven't," Sir Ian said.
Good job in catching these thugs. :thumbsup:
Facebook
Twitter