26/07/2005

Explosives found and car seized in hunt for bomb suspects

Police investigating last Thursday’s attempted bomb attacks in London have found chemicals in a London flat.

The materials, believed to be explosives, were discovered at a flat in Curtis House, which is being searched as part of the investigation.

One of the suspects who was named yesterday, 24-year-old Yasin Hassan Omar is the registered tenant of the house. The other named suspect Muktar Mohammed Ibrahim, 27, is also believed to have stayed at the flat.

Police have also seized a car during the investigation. Police impounded a white VW Golf, believed to have been used by one of the bombers, on Tuesday after being seized in the Finchley area.

Omar and Ibrahim were part of a group of four men who attempted to carry out bomb attacks on three tube trains and one bus last Thursday.

Five men remain in custody in connection with the attempted bombings. However, none of the four main suspects have been seen since the attempted attacks.

It has also emerged that both Omar and Ibrahim arrived in Britain as dependents of asylum seekers in the 1990s. Omar, a Somalian national, arrived in Britain in 1992 at the age of 11. He was granted indefinite leave to remain in the UK five years ago, the Home Office confirmed.

Ibrahim came to Britian from Eritrea, also in 1992, aged 14. He was granted exceptional leave to remain and was given a full British passport last year.

CCTV footage has been released of all four bomb suspects, although the identity of the other two suspects remains unknown. Police are also investigating the possibility that there was a fifth bomber, following the discovery of a device, similar to the others used in the attacks, on waste ground in Little Wormwood Scrubs, west London.

(KMcA/SP)

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