Alleged suicide bomber ‘only staging protest’

ALLEGED would-be suicide bomber Hussain Osman was only staging a protest in his actions on July 21 and is not a terrorist, his lawyer said yesterday.

The man thought to have tried to blow up a Tube train at Shepherd’s Bush, west London in the second wave of attacks on the capital’s transport system has been on peace marches and was protesting against the suffering of civilians in wars, said Antonietta Sonnessa.

She told ITV News from Italy: “My client says his action was purely demonstrative. In fact, all four attempts did not result in any injury or damage at all. Moreover, he maintains that he was nothing to do with the events of July 7.”

Three Tube trains and a bus were targeted on July 21 in a chilling echo of the July 7 terror attacks which killed 56 people. But in the second attacks, explosives did not go off.

All four of the July 21 attackers have now been caught, one in Birmingham, two in London and Osman on Friday in Rome. Osman is now fighting extradition to Britain.

Ms Sonnessa said: “He has justified his actions as a form of protest against the fact that civilians are suffering in wars at the present time. He has taken part in many peace marches, and has never had any contact whatsoever with any terrorist organisation.

“He is not at all a violent person, and made sure he would not cause any damage, injuries or deaths.

“He had it only in mind to create further tension in an already tense situation.

“His action was to explain to the British public how difficult life is in countries where war is a daily event.”

She said that according to Osman the preparation of the mixture of chemicals was only the day before, and not by him, and it was not at all accurate.

“There wasn’t a very clearly defined plan, the whole thing was set the day before, in a meeting with this group of friends.”

Ms Sonnessa said she hoped Osman could be tried in Italy, and she would be checking if the alleged crime committed in England could be tried in Italy, under Italian law.

“The fundamental fact is that at the moment in England there is a very tense atmosphere, that I understand personally, but that could damage the chances of my client.”

Judges in the Court of Appeal have up to 60 days to decide whether to send him to Britain, and a decision could happen at any time in that period.

Meanwhile, a brother of Osman, Fati, was arrested in the northern Italian city of Brescia. His arrest was not thought to be linked to international terrorism. He was being questioned over alleged destruction of documents.

Another brother of Osman, Ramzi, is in custody being quizzed about alleged possession of false documents, after he led authorities to Osman on Friday.