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Plotters' links with 7/7 attacks under probe

Hasan Suroor

Police search of premises across Britain continues

LONDON: With the alleged key suspects already "accounted for'', according to British Home Secretary John Reid, the line of police investigation into the reported plot to blow up American planes is now centred on exploring their possible links with the July 7, 2005 London "bombers'', most of whom were also British youth of Pakistani origin.

The role of Al-Qaeda in planning what police said could have turned out to be "Britain's 9/11'' was also being investigated in the light of Pakistani claims that there were "indications of an Afghan-based Al-Qaeda connection''.

America has also alleged Al-Qaeda's hand but British intelligence officials have avoided official comment and, in fact, according to The Times they are "furious'' for "jumping the gun'' on the issue.

Of the 24 persons arrested on Thursday, one has already been released without charge. The detention hearing of another was put off until Monday. The remaining 22 were being questioned by police and searches of residential and business premises across the country continued.

Among those arrested and being questioned is the son-in-law of a former East London imam of Indian origin. The alleged suspect Brian Young (28), who is reported to be of West Indian origin, changed his name to Umar Islam after becoming a Muslim and married the imam's daughter.

Pakistani connection

Another convert being investigated is Don Stewart-Whyte who changed his name to Abdul Waheed and married a Muslim woman barely a month ago.

There was no suggestion that the imam had any suspicious links.

The only alleged suspect with a Pakistani "connection'' was identified as Tayib Rauf, brother of Rashid Rauf whose arrest in Pakistan provided the trigger for British police to act on Wednesday night to stop the plot. Tayib Rauf (22), is among the 19 whose assets have been frozen by British Government. The arrests and raids — mostly in east London, Buckinghamshire and Birmingham — were greeted with a mixture of surprise, scepticism and horror by local residents. The father of two young men, Nabeel Hussain and Umair Hussain, who were arrested in east London broke down in front of TV cameras as he protested their innocence.

Several Muslim groups wrote an open letter to Prime Minister Tony Blair calling for "urgent" changes to the Government's foreign policy saying that its position on Iraq and West Asia was putting civilians at increased risk in the U.K. and abroad. It was signed among others by three Muslim Labour MPs and several peers.

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