Post by (LK) on Jul 28, 2005 12:15:59 GMT -5
Security expert hails 'a real achievement'
KAREN MCVEIGH
Key points
• A terror suspect was arrested in an early morning raid in Birmingham
• Yasin Hassan Omar was wanted in connection with the 21 July bomb attacks
• Police are concerned the three other bombers could strike again
Key quote
"This is the first time we've seen an organised group that is obviously supported by an infrastructure, where four of them, or perhaps five, have failed, and one of them has been captured alive" - Bob Ayers, security expert
Story in full YASIN Hassan Omar, one of the four fugitive terror suspects who failed in their bombing attempts on London last week, was arrested by police in a dramatic armed raid on a house in Birmingham yesterday.
The man who detectives believe was responsible for the failed attempt to blow up a Tube train near Warren Street last Thursday was shot with a Taser stun gun following a struggle with officers.
Around 100 homes were then evacuated as the bomb squad moved in, sparking fears that the man had been on the verge of blowing himself up. One report suggested he had a rucksack with him which was thrown clear through a window by an officer.
Last night Omar was being held at high security Paddington Green police station in central London, where he will be questioned. In a separate development last night, police said three women were arrested on suspicion on harbouring offenders during a rail in Stockwell, London.
The Birmingham breakthrough came in the early hours of the morning, after a tip-off from a member of the public. One security expert said that it could signal the first real prospect of penetrating the British cell responsible for the London attacks.
But the arrest of the first suspect from the 21 July attack only helped to raise fears that the other three suspects who remain at large could attempt a desperate second strike in the knowledge that security forces appear to be closing in. Detectives and the security services executed the arrest at the house in Heybarnes Road, Birmingham at about 4:30am, after first putting the address under surveillance.
Confirming at a press briefing last night that the man arrested was Omar, Peter Clarke, head of the Met's Anti-Terrorist Branch, said the suspect was alone at the time.
"During the course of that arrest, officers did find it necessary to use a Taser weapon to control him," he added.
But Mr Clarke said there was no intelligence to suggest there were explosives in the house. Local residents were evacuated "as a precaution".
Three other men, believed to be Somalis, were held in a raid two miles away in Bankdale Road, in the Washwood Heath area of Birmingham. They were being held in Birmingham.
The raids were carried out by 50 officers from the Metropolitan Police Anti-Terrorist Branch and West Midlands Police. No shots were fired.
Police are still trying to establish a firm link between the failed 21 July bombs and the 7 July attacks which killed 56 people, including the four suicide bombers responsible. They think the similarities are so striking that it is difficult to believe there is no link between the two.
Last night police released a new image of the man who is suspected of trying to detonate a device at Shepherd's Bush Tube station on 21 July. The image showed the man on a bus after he fled the scene.
Omar's detention came as a welcome and significant development in the investigation, less than 24 hours after it emerged that police fear the bombers were being sheltered by supporters and could strike again.
Police now believe that at least some of the bombers returned to Omar's flat in New Southgate, north London, after the failed attacks, prompting concern that they may have retrieved explosive materials for more bombs.
Omar had shared the council flat with Muktar Said-Ibrahim, 27, also known as Muktar Mohammed Said, who police suspect tried to bomb the No 26 bus last week.
Yesterday, Bob Ayers, a security expert, said that the arrest was "a real achievement", which would make it easier to identify and home in on other suspects. "Whenever you grab a guy like this, in a particular place, you can look for all the people he knew," said Mr Ayers.
"Phone records in the flat in Birmingham, who did he call, who called him. There is a lot of human and technology activity that you can immediately tap into."
He said that the isolation of the suspect made it more likely he would talk to police.
"When one of the gang is caught, there is a real phenomenon that takes place in any terror group," said Mr Ayers. "If this guy is part of a structured group, he has had a lot of support from his buddies. Just like soldiers in the front line, they encourage each other to be brave. But without that support structure, with no-one reinforcing the message, the odds are he will be much more likely to talk. All the heroism of the suicide pact is gone. The Met are a clever bunch, they know how to deal with this sort of personality.
"This is the first time we've seen an organised group that is obviously supported by an infrastructure, where four of them, or perhaps five, have failed, and one of them has been captured alive, a real, live terrorist. This is really good."
The four bombs which failed to explode last Thursday were similar to another found in a park on Saturday, raising concerns that a fifth bomber was on the loose.
The ethnicity of the eight London bombers, ranging from Somalis, to British-born sons of Pakistani parents and an Anglo-Jamaican Muslim convert, have surprised detectives investigating the attacks.
Omar arrived in Britain from Somalia at the age of 11 with his elder sister in 1992 and was put into foster care. His parents were thought to be dead or still in Somalia.
After passing through a series of foster families, he was assessed as a "vulnerable young adult" at the age of 18 by social services and placed in his own council house in north London. He later shared it with Ibrahim.
Shopkeeper Ali Dursun recalled Omar praising Osama bin Laden: "He said Turkish people were not proper Muslims and two days after September 11 he was coming into my shop praising bin Laden and saying he was a good man."
In separate developments, anti-terrorist police also raided two houses in north London yesterday morning. The properties in Finchley and Enfield were raided at 6am. No arrests have been made so far and a forensic search of both is continuing.
Police also arrested two men at a train station in the central town of Grantham late on Tuesday as they travelled from Newcastle towards London, but they were released without charge yesterday.
A man who was detained under the Terrorism Act at Luton airport has been allowed to continue his journey to Nimes, in France.
In the raid in Stockwell, armed police took a number of women and a child from a ground-floor flat raided as part of the probe into last week's attempted bombings.
Eyewitnesses said about 20 police officers - many of them carrying machine-guns - surrounded the flat in Blair House on Stockwell Road at 5:45pm before leading the women away.
Police refused to comment on speculation that the flat raided was the home of the "Shepherd's Bush bomber".
news.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=1692002005
KAREN MCVEIGH
Key points
• A terror suspect was arrested in an early morning raid in Birmingham
• Yasin Hassan Omar was wanted in connection with the 21 July bomb attacks
• Police are concerned the three other bombers could strike again
Key quote
"This is the first time we've seen an organised group that is obviously supported by an infrastructure, where four of them, or perhaps five, have failed, and one of them has been captured alive" - Bob Ayers, security expert
Story in full YASIN Hassan Omar, one of the four fugitive terror suspects who failed in their bombing attempts on London last week, was arrested by police in a dramatic armed raid on a house in Birmingham yesterday.
The man who detectives believe was responsible for the failed attempt to blow up a Tube train near Warren Street last Thursday was shot with a Taser stun gun following a struggle with officers.
Around 100 homes were then evacuated as the bomb squad moved in, sparking fears that the man had been on the verge of blowing himself up. One report suggested he had a rucksack with him which was thrown clear through a window by an officer.
Last night Omar was being held at high security Paddington Green police station in central London, where he will be questioned. In a separate development last night, police said three women were arrested on suspicion on harbouring offenders during a rail in Stockwell, London.
The Birmingham breakthrough came in the early hours of the morning, after a tip-off from a member of the public. One security expert said that it could signal the first real prospect of penetrating the British cell responsible for the London attacks.
But the arrest of the first suspect from the 21 July attack only helped to raise fears that the other three suspects who remain at large could attempt a desperate second strike in the knowledge that security forces appear to be closing in. Detectives and the security services executed the arrest at the house in Heybarnes Road, Birmingham at about 4:30am, after first putting the address under surveillance.
Confirming at a press briefing last night that the man arrested was Omar, Peter Clarke, head of the Met's Anti-Terrorist Branch, said the suspect was alone at the time.
"During the course of that arrest, officers did find it necessary to use a Taser weapon to control him," he added.
But Mr Clarke said there was no intelligence to suggest there were explosives in the house. Local residents were evacuated "as a precaution".
Three other men, believed to be Somalis, were held in a raid two miles away in Bankdale Road, in the Washwood Heath area of Birmingham. They were being held in Birmingham.
The raids were carried out by 50 officers from the Metropolitan Police Anti-Terrorist Branch and West Midlands Police. No shots were fired.
Police are still trying to establish a firm link between the failed 21 July bombs and the 7 July attacks which killed 56 people, including the four suicide bombers responsible. They think the similarities are so striking that it is difficult to believe there is no link between the two.
Last night police released a new image of the man who is suspected of trying to detonate a device at Shepherd's Bush Tube station on 21 July. The image showed the man on a bus after he fled the scene.
Omar's detention came as a welcome and significant development in the investigation, less than 24 hours after it emerged that police fear the bombers were being sheltered by supporters and could strike again.
Police now believe that at least some of the bombers returned to Omar's flat in New Southgate, north London, after the failed attacks, prompting concern that they may have retrieved explosive materials for more bombs.
Omar had shared the council flat with Muktar Said-Ibrahim, 27, also known as Muktar Mohammed Said, who police suspect tried to bomb the No 26 bus last week.
Yesterday, Bob Ayers, a security expert, said that the arrest was "a real achievement", which would make it easier to identify and home in on other suspects. "Whenever you grab a guy like this, in a particular place, you can look for all the people he knew," said Mr Ayers.
"Phone records in the flat in Birmingham, who did he call, who called him. There is a lot of human and technology activity that you can immediately tap into."
He said that the isolation of the suspect made it more likely he would talk to police.
"When one of the gang is caught, there is a real phenomenon that takes place in any terror group," said Mr Ayers. "If this guy is part of a structured group, he has had a lot of support from his buddies. Just like soldiers in the front line, they encourage each other to be brave. But without that support structure, with no-one reinforcing the message, the odds are he will be much more likely to talk. All the heroism of the suicide pact is gone. The Met are a clever bunch, they know how to deal with this sort of personality.
"This is the first time we've seen an organised group that is obviously supported by an infrastructure, where four of them, or perhaps five, have failed, and one of them has been captured alive, a real, live terrorist. This is really good."
The four bombs which failed to explode last Thursday were similar to another found in a park on Saturday, raising concerns that a fifth bomber was on the loose.
The ethnicity of the eight London bombers, ranging from Somalis, to British-born sons of Pakistani parents and an Anglo-Jamaican Muslim convert, have surprised detectives investigating the attacks.
Omar arrived in Britain from Somalia at the age of 11 with his elder sister in 1992 and was put into foster care. His parents were thought to be dead or still in Somalia.
After passing through a series of foster families, he was assessed as a "vulnerable young adult" at the age of 18 by social services and placed in his own council house in north London. He later shared it with Ibrahim.
Shopkeeper Ali Dursun recalled Omar praising Osama bin Laden: "He said Turkish people were not proper Muslims and two days after September 11 he was coming into my shop praising bin Laden and saying he was a good man."
In separate developments, anti-terrorist police also raided two houses in north London yesterday morning. The properties in Finchley and Enfield were raided at 6am. No arrests have been made so far and a forensic search of both is continuing.
Police also arrested two men at a train station in the central town of Grantham late on Tuesday as they travelled from Newcastle towards London, but they were released without charge yesterday.
A man who was detained under the Terrorism Act at Luton airport has been allowed to continue his journey to Nimes, in France.
In the raid in Stockwell, armed police took a number of women and a child from a ground-floor flat raided as part of the probe into last week's attempted bombings.
Eyewitnesses said about 20 police officers - many of them carrying machine-guns - surrounded the flat in Blair House on Stockwell Road at 5:45pm before leading the women away.
Police refused to comment on speculation that the flat raided was the home of the "Shepherd's Bush bomber".
news.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=1692002005