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Suspect arrested in rmove motivated by iraq war { August 1 2005 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.theherald.co.uk/news/44052.htmlhttp://www.theherald.co.uk/news/44052.html
Suspect arrested in Rome ‘motivated by Iraq war'
MARTIN WILLIAMS August 01 2005
ONE of the men hunted by UK police over the failed London bombings has admitted they were motivated by the US-led war in Iraq and the "harassment" of Muslims in England after the July 7 bombings.
Ethiopian-born Briton Osman Hussain, 27, also known as Hamdi Isaac, appeared before magistrates in Rome for an initial extradition hearing and insisted to interrogators that the devices were not primed to kill.
Hussain, who is suspected of trying to bomb a train near Shepherd's Bush station, is the first suspect to whom Italy is applying the rules of the newly-created European arrest warrant, allowing speedier transfer of suspects between EU states.
However, Italian police sources say he is expected to fight extradition and had not agreed to fast-track the legal process, likely now to take two months.
Hussain was traced to a flat in Rome where he was staying with one of his brothers, named as Remzi Isaac. Both were arrested on Friday.
Questioned by a pair of Italy's top anti-terrorism prosecutors, Hussain said that months ago in London his chief – whom he identified as "Muktar" – taught him how to assemble bombs using fertilisers and acid and how to put them and timers into backpacks.
Hussain was referring to Muktar Said Ibrahim, 27, one of the other bombing suspects captured in a raid in London on Friday. Ibrahim is suspected of planting explosives on a London bus on July 21.
"Muktar urged us to be careful," Hussain said, according to reports of the interrogation. "It was in order to sow terror but not to kill. I am not a part of the al Qaeda."
They were motivated by hatred and a vendetta "against the English bombs and Americans in Iraq", he told investigators.
Muslims in London had been "insulted and repressed" after the July 7 London bombings and "we decided to react", he said. "It was to put fear into the English," he said. "We wanted to react to the climate of attack against Muslims after the attacks of July.
"It was said to me it was necessary to act in order to revenge our arrested people thrown in jail after the bombs of July. But I did not want to kill nobody."
Hussain, who has two sons and a fiancee, says he met Ibrahim in the Notting Hill area of London and they had viewed a DVD showing footage of the war in Iraq which helped to inflame a "hatred for the west". Footage showed women and children killed by the English and American military, he said.
Hussain also said his cell was not linked to either al Qaeda or the cell that carried out deadly bombings July 7.
Anti-terrorism investigators have said for years that Italy is a logistics base for international terrorists, including providing false documents to help travel.
Police are now checking out what Hussain intended to do while in Italy, but he is said to have told his interrogators he had no intentions of carrying out further attacks.
"After the attacks I have not seen or contacted any of the accomplices," Hussain is reported to have said. "My fiancee said to me that I could not be in the house. Then I thought to come to Italy to my brother, but I have nothing."
Police also reportedly found that Hussain called Saudi Arabia hours before his arrest and that another bombing suspect visited Saudi Arabia for a month in 2003, telling friends he was to undergo training.
After the initial extradition hearing, Hussain's court-appointed lawyer, Antonietta Sonnessa, said the process could still take 60 days.
She said her client, who is believed to have been brought up in Italy, was "calm enough" during the hearing and he "probably would prefer to stay in Italy".
Scotland Yard yesterday dismissed claims that the July 21 attempted bombings were never meant to kill.
Sir Ian Blair, Metropolitan Police commissioner, insisted their intention "must have been to kill".
A spokeswoman stood by the assertion that the July 21 attack was designed to cause a second wave of carnage and it is thought the devices failed to explode properly.
Italian police, who tracked Osman Hussain through his mobile phone calls, are expected to want to investigate his movements and contacts in Italy before agreeing to an extradition request.
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