Key 21/7 bombing suspect arrested

The man, named in media reports as suspected bomber Yasin Hassan Omar, was one of four men detained in dawn raids in the central English city of Birmingham. He was taken to a top security police station in London.

Police who swooped on the house in Birmingham’s Hay Mills used a stun gun on the man, temporarily disabling him with an electric shock, and discovered a suspect package. Omar (24) is wanted over an attempted attack on Warren Street underground station—one of four failed bombings on July 21. He came to Britain from Somalia as a child. Although police declined to identify the man taken to London, a police source said: ‘‘The arrest is much more significant than the other three.’’

American TV channel ABC, citing investigation sources, said detectives probing the first bomb plot on July 7 had found 16 readymade bombs in a car rented by one of the attackers. Some were shaped like pancakes and packed with nails to act as shrapnel, ABC said. The BBC said the arrested man wore a rucksack. The bombers in both sets of attacks carried bombs in rucksacks, police said.

The three other men were detained at another address in the Birmingham area and were taken to a local police station.

Police last week published photos of the four main suspects in the July 21 attempted attacks from images captured on security cameras and appealed to the public to report any sightings but not to approach the men.

Newspapers reported on Wednesday that another prime suspect had served a jail sentence for knifepoint robberies.

Muktar Said Ibrahim (27), wanted over an attempt to plant a bomb on a bus in last week’s failed attacks, was jailed for five years in 1996 for mugging people when he was part of a teenage gang, the Daily Telegraph said.

The Home Office said Ibrahim arrived in Britain from the East African country of Eritrea in 1992. Both Omar and Ibrahim came to Britain as child refugees. —Reuters

Search for containers ‘made in India’

LONDON: In its search for the London bombers, Scotland Yard is now looking for a particular kind of plastic ‘‘family containers’’ manufactured in India and used in the failed July 21 attacks here.

The London bombers had used Tupperware-like white-lidded containers called ‘Delta 6250’ to build the explosive devices, Deputy Assistant Commissioner of Metropolitan Police Peter Clarke told reporters here. He asked shopkeepers if they remembered selling ‘‘five or more’’ of the transparent six-and-a-quarter litre containers, which have white lids. The brand is marked ‘‘Delta 6250 with lid’’ and says ‘‘family container’’ and ‘‘superior quality’’ on a sticker on the container’s side.

He said the containers were made in India and sold in about 100 British outlets. PTI