Failed Tube bomb suspect arrested on British soil

ONE of the suspects in the failed July 21 London suicide bombings was arrested and charged when he landed back in Britain yesterday.

Hussain Osman was flown from Rome on a private charter jet which landed at RAF Northolt in west London at 1.39pm.

After it landed, Osman was formally arrested under British law on suspicion of conspiracy to commit murder, attempted murder and alleged explosives offences.

A convoy of vehicles, including police outriders, was waiting to take him to the high security Paddington Green police station and there was also extra security around the airport perimeter.

The 27-year-old Ethiopian-born terror suspect, also known as Hamdi Isaac, was later charged with conspiracy to commit murder, attempted murder and explosives offences, Scotland Yard said.

The 27-year-old will appear at Bow Street Magistrates' Court, sitting at the high security Belmarsh complex in south east London, this morning.

He was formally charged yesterday afternoon at Paddington Green.

Scotland Yard said Osman faces four charges, including an allegation of attempting to murder passengers on the Transport for London (Tfl) system.

He faces a separate charge of conspiring with others to murder passengers on the TfL system and is accused of two offences under the Explosive Substances Act 1883.

The process of bringing Osman back to Britain began early yesterday morning.

At just before 9am, he was taken from his cell at Rebibbia jail on the outskirts of Rome and driven in a prison van to Ciampino airport.

On arrival the convoy drove up to the front of the waiting plane and Osman, who had a blanket over his head, was brought out by police officers.

Amid tight security, he boarded the plane at just after 11am British time.

Osman, who is accused of trying to blow himself up on a train at Shepherd's Bush, west London, has been held in Rome since his arrest there a week after the attempted bombings.

During his interviews with police in Italy, Osman claimed his rucksack "bomb" was packed with flour and was meant to scare people but not harm them.

Three other alleged would-be suicide bombers have already been charged in Britain over the failed bombings.

They are Ibrahim Muktar Said, 27, Ramzi Mohamed, 23, and Yassin Omar, 24.

All three are charged with conspiracy to murder and making or possessing an explosive with intent to endanger life or cause serious injury on July 21.