Police arrest two men in London bomb probe raids

LONDON, Tuesday (Reuters,AFP) British police arrested two men under anti-terrorism laws in south London in raids linked to the July 21 attempts to bomb the capital, a police spokesman said.

The men were arrested during police searches of properties in the Clapham area and nearby Stockwell, where police shot dead a Brazilian man they mistook for a suspected suicide bomber on July 22. Amateur video footage broadcast on the BBC showed armed police wearing black masks surrounding a man pinned against the front of a red-brick house in Stockwell.

Police wearing blue-hooded overalls dressed the suspect in an all-in-one suit, which is designed to preserve any forensic evidence.

"They were arrested on suspicion of the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism," the spokesman said. "They are in custody at a central London police station."

Detectives are questioning 18 others held as part of the probe into the July 21 attacks, the biggest operation for London's police since World War Two.

Police say they have arrested the four men they believe were behind the July 21 attacks. One suspect was held in Italy on Friday.

Italian police said Hamdi Issac - also known as Osman Hussein - fled to family and friends in Italy, instead of criminals, after the failed second wave of bombings in London. They said he was more likely part of a rag-tag group of amateurs than a broad Islamic militant network. His Italian lawyer has repeatedly suggested Hamdi will resist extradition.

Meanwhile Britain hopes that Hamdi Issac can be extradited from Italy within 90 days, the Home Office (interior ministry) said Tuesday after he was charged by Italian prosecutors.

A spokesman said British officials in Rome had clarified that Hamdi Issac, had not been indicted on domestic Italian charges, which would have complicated the extradition procedure.

"It's our understanding that the extradition process of Osman Hussain remains on track and that he has not been charged with domestic offences," the spokesman told AFP.

Under a new European arrest warrant, created in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States, suspects can be extradited between European Union (EU) member states within a maximum of 90 days.

"That's what were hoping for, that's what we're working towards," said the spokesman. Traditional extradition procedures can take years.

Issac was arrested in Rome last Friday after he fled Britain following the failed July 21 London attacks, which came two weeks after July 7 bombings which left 56 people dead.

In Rome Monday his lawyer said he had been formally charged with "international terrorism" and with possessing false identity documents, in theory opening the way for a formal extradition request. If Issac had been charged with Italian offences, he would have had to be prosecuted for those in Italy before the EU arrest warrant arrangements would have come into force, said the London spokesman.

His court-appointed lawyer, Antonietta Sonnessa, has said her client plans to fight extradition to Britain, where police will be keen to quiz him.