Sunday, July 31 2005 12:56 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

London: Hussain Osman, arrested in Rome on charges of taking part in the failed July 21 terror attacks in London, has claimed the plot was inspired by Britain's involvement in Iraq war and denied any Al Qaeda link.

However, security agencies have begun hunting for an Al-Qaeda mastermind believed to be behind the recruitment and training of both sets of London bombers.

Osman has revealed that the suspects watched hours of TV footage showing grief-stricken Iraqi widows and children alongside images of civilians killed in the conflict.

He is alleged to have told prosecutors that after watching the footage, "There was a feeling of hatred and a conviction that it was necessary to give a signal - to do something," 'The Sunday Observer' reported today (July 31, 2005).

He claimed that Mukhtar SaidIbrahim, the bus bomber, who was arrested in London on, led the bombers Friday (July 29, 2005).

According to the reports, Hussain claimed the men did not talk about Al Qaeda or Osama bin Laden. "We had no contacts with the organisation of bin Laden. We knew it existed, we accessed its programmes through the Internet but nothing directly," he is reported to have claimed, adding that the bombings of July 7 took them by surprise.

"We never had any contact with the Pakistanis," he said.

But some of the Italian media quoted Osman as saying, "I hardly know anything. They only gave me a rucksack to carry on the tube in London. We wanted to stage an attack, but only as a show. Who gave me the explosive? I don't know. I didn't know him. I don't remember. We didn't want to kill, we just wanted to scare people."