Friday, July 15 2005 19:45 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Washington: The alleged bomb-builder in the July 7 London terror attacks has been arrested in Cairo where he is being interrogated, ABC news reported today (July 15, 2005) citing sources including the FBI.

"ABC News has exclusive information, as we said, that the worldwide manhunt for the man that police think has built those bombs has ... been caught in Cairo and (is) being interrogated right now," ABC television said. "The FBI in North Carolina joined the search," it added.

"Authorities in Egypt tell ABC News he was tracked down and and taken into custody overnight in suburban Cairo. British authorities had initiated a worldwide manhunt for 33-year-old Magdy Nashar who left England two weeks before the bombings. Police say it was he who helped the bombers set up their bomb factory," the network reported.

As the confirmed death toll from the July 7 bombings rose to 54, with some 700 injured, investigators were hoping that fuzzy security camera images of one of the bombers, aged just 18, would encourage more witnesses to come forward.

In London, Metropolitan Police commissioner Sir Ian Blair confirmed on BBC radio that there was "a Pakistan connection" to the bombings, in which three of the four suspected perpetrators were Britons of Pakistani origin. But he added: "There are also connections in other countries." "What we expect to find at some stage is that there is a clear Al-Qaeda link, a clear Al-Qaeda approach," he said.