Friday, July 29 2005 17:29 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

London: A Briton of Indian descent, alleged to be the mastermind behind the July 7 London bombings that killed 56 people, has reportedly been arrested in Zambia as police in London today (July 29, 2005) interrogated one of the men suspected of attempting to launch a similar attack two weeks later and stepped up hunt for those on run.

Haroon Rashid Aswat, who is of Indian descent and grew up in West Yorkshire, was arrested last week and is being held in Lusaka, where both British and US anti-terrorism investigators have travelled, 'The Times' daily reported.

British officials would not immediately elaborate on the report but a Foreign Office spokeswoman said, "We are seeking consular access to a British national who is reported to be in custody in Zambia."

Aswat, claimed to be a senior British al-Qaeda operative whose association with the terror network dates back to ten years, is believed to have flown out from Heathrow hours before the four suicide bombers killed 52 rush-hour commuters and themselves on three Tube trains and a bus on July 7.

Investigators have sought him since discovering that he made up to 20 calls from his mobile to two of the bombers.

Quoting intelligence sources, The Times reported that prior to the deadly bombings Aswat visited the home towns of all four bombers as well as selected targets in London.

Aswat is also being sought by the FBI over accusations that he tried to set up al-Qaeda training camps in the US.

FBI documents obtained by the paper reveal details of how a London-based cleric sent Aswat to America in 1999 to set up camps in Oregon for US-born recruits.

The documents indicate that Aswat spent three months in US and engaged in firearms and poisons training, but decided against using a remote ranch in Bly as an al-Qaeda camp.

The CIA is keeping in close touch with his interrogation and British detectives are seeking permission to speak to him.

The FBI is to question a number of figures held in the US, including James Ujaama, an American converted to Islam who met Aswat, and a second al-Qaeda emissary in Seattle.

Ujaama has pleaded guilty to assisting the Taliban and is now "cooperating witness" who has given details of Aswat's activities in the US.

Aswat flew into New York on November 26, 1999, on an Air India flight with Oussama Abdullah Kassir, who has Swedish nationality, the paper said.

Kassir, 38, described himself as a "hitman for Osama bin Laden" and claimed to have fought in Kashmir and Afghanistan.

Ujaama drove the pair to the ranch but they complained that it did not have the facilities - especially barracks for potential recruits - that they had been led to believe existed, the daily reported.

Police were, meanwhile, interrogating Somali-born Yasin Hassan Omar, 24, who was arrested in Birmingham two days ago, at London's high-security Paddington Green police station.

They have 14 days to question Omar, one of the four suspected bombers, who exactly two weeks after the July 7 blasts tried to launch a repeat attack on London's transport system.

Omar is suspected of trying to blow up an Underground train near central London's Warren Street train station. The other three suspected bombers were still on run.

"We are in a sombre moment and it does remain possible that those at large will strike again," London police chief Ian Blair cautioned yesterday.

The Times reported that interviews with Omar and others arrested in connection with the July 21 failed attacks were progressing "very slowly".

Citing unnamed sources, it said Omar had asked for a translator. He was also complaining of sickness and headaches after being shot with a Taser gun during his arrest.

Police Commissioner Blair has also said that using a stun gun during the Birmingham raid was an "incredible" risk.

"It was an incredible risk to use a Taser on a suicide bomber because the Taser itself could set it (a bomb) off and that is not the policy," he told BBC. "I can't imagine how that was used. We use Tasers in London regularly but a Taser sends electric currents into the body of somebody."

Blair also said that he was "devastated" for the family of Jean Charles de Menezes, 27-year-old Brazilian electrician who was shot dead at Stockwell Tube station by police on July 22 after being wrongly suspected to be a suicide bomber.

Yesterday, the Home Office said Menezes' visa had expired two years back. It said it wished to end speculation over his immigration status but said the statement was not intended to influence any investigations.

Independent Police Complaints Commission was probing Menezes' killing. Its investigators appealed for witnesses to the incident at the Stockwell subway station in south London.

Menezes' body was yesterday flown to his home town Gonzaga in south-east of Brazil where he will be buried.

Apart from Omar, Muktar said Ibrahim, 27, who migrated to UK from Eritrea, had been named while other two suspected bombers behind the failed attacks had not been identified.

After arresting Omar, police have stepped up hunt for the three suspects in the July 21 failed attacks, fearing another deadly strike on the transit system here.