Suicide bomber 'a loving and normal man'

The family of teenage suicide bomber Hasib Hussain tonight spoke of their “devastation” and described their son as a “loving and normal young man”.

In a statement issued through West Yorkshire Police, they expressed their disbelief that the 18-year-old was involved in the bus attack which left 13 dead.

“Hasib was a loving and normal young man who gave us no concern and we are having difficulty taking this in,” said his family.

“We, the family of Hasib Mir Hussain, are devastated over the events of the past few days.

"Our thoughts are with all the bereaved families and we have to live ourselves with the loss of our son in these difficult circumstances.

"We had no knowledge of his activities and had we done we would have done everything in our power to stop him. We urge anyone with information about these events, or leading up to them, to cooperate fully with the authorities.

"This is a difficult time and we ask you to let us grieve for our son in private.”