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Arrested in Cairo

Leeds University chemist, linked to bomb factory used by London terrorists, held in Egypt after he traveled there

BY TINA SUSMAN | STAFF CORRESPONDENT; Staff correspondent Letta Tayler contributed to this story from Leeds, England, and special correspondent Knut Royce contributed from Washington.

July 16, 2005

LONDON - Egyptian authorities Friday detained a U.S.- and British-trained chemist who had lived recently in the same city as some of the suspected suicide attackers in last week's bombings, and who held the key to an apartment where the bombs may have been made.

The chemist, Magdy Mahmoud Mustafa el-Nashar, 33, was not charged with a crime and denied involvement in the attacks, the Egyptian Interior Ministry said in a statement, adding that el-Nashar said he had left the United Kingdom recently to vacation in Cairo.

In Washington, administration officials and intelligence sources who receive daily briefs on the investigation said two unexploded bombs were found in a car apparently used by the bombers and left at the Luton train station north of London, and explosives were found in a bathtub of el-Nashar's apartment here. They also said the type of explosives suggested a strong degree of sophistication. They were composed of a highly volatile compound that had been mixed to enhance its power.

London Police Chief Ian Blair said British authorities would either seek to have el-Nashar brought here or send British investigators to Egypt to question him about possible links to the suspected bombers: Shahzad Tanweer, 22; Hasib Mir Hussain, 18; Mohammed Sidique Khan, 30; and a fourth man described as a Jamaican-born Briton whose name has appeared in various forms, including Lindsay Germaine and Lindsey Jamal, in the media. Neither British nor Jamaican authorities has identified the fourth man by name.

El-Nashar's detention came as part of an ever-widening investigation stretching from the cobblestone streets of Beeston, a Leeds suburb where some of the bombers lived, to Raleigh, N.C., where El-Nashar studied chemistry in 2000.

The death toll from the London attacks stood at 54, including the four bombers, and the first funeral took place Friday, for Shahara Islam, 20, a Muslim woman. "She was an East Ender, a Londoner and British, but above all, a true Muslim and proud to be so ... Unfortunately, she was at the wrong place at the wrong time on that unfortunate day," her family said in a statement.

For the first time, the families of two of the bombers also spoke out. Hussain's family said in a written statement they were "devastated" and Hussain was a "loving and normal young man who gave us no concern. We're having difficulty taking this in." It said relatives had no inkling of his plans. "We would have done everything in our power to stop him."

In addition, police in Beeston raided an Islamic book store and kept their focus on a youth center nearby, carrying eight computers out of the building. Residents said some of the bombers frequented both spots and one had volunteered in a youth program at the book shop.

In another part of town, the apartment el-Nashar had rented was concealed behind white sheeting as police continued their search out of the view of curious neighbors and the media. "There was nothing suspicious about him," Ghazan Khan, his former landlord, said Thursday when police first swooped down on the building, which is not far from Leeds University, where el-Nashar earned a doctorate in chemistry.

With the bombing suspects dead, police say they are determined to find out whether the men received directions from elsewhere. The police chief said in a television interview that the attack "has the hallmarks of al-Qaida. The simultaneous explosions, the fact the dead appeared to be sort-of foot soldiers.

"What we've got to find is the people who trained them, the people who made the bombs and the people who financed it," he said.

Outside of the investigation, London was returning to normal. The crowds that had gathered daily at a makeshift shrine at the bombed King's Cross underground station slowed to a trickle, while thousands lined up outside bookstores to await the 12:01 a.m. sales launch of the next "Harry Potter" book. King's Cross Station reopened partially to service in the afternoon, but some conductors apparently were slow to get the news. One train slowed to a stop, then took off without opening its doors to about a dozen people waiting on the platform.

Staff correspondent Letta Tayler contributed to this story from Leeds, England, and special correspondent Knut Royce contributed from Washington.

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Arrested in Cairo

Leeds University chemist, linked to bomb factory used by London terrorists, held in Egypt after he traveled there

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