Wednesday, August 3 2005 17:42 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Lusaka: Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa today (Aug 3, 2005) announced that Zambia had agreed to deport a Briton to his home country after he was arrested in Zambia on suspicion of terrorism.

Haroon Aswat, 31, has been named in US and British media reports as the alleged mastermind behind the July 7 blasts that killed 56 people including four suicide bombers.

"We had discussions with the Governments of the US and Britain and finally agreed that Mr Aswat should be deported to his country which is Britain," Mwanawasa told reporters in Lusaka.

US authorities reportedly sought to question Aswat over alleged attempts to set up a terrorist training camp in Bly, Oregon.

US media claimed on July 22, the day after the four abortive attacks on London's transport system, that US police and intelligence agencies were taking part in the hunt for Aswat.

They said that the four suicide bombers behind the July 7 attacks had made about 20 calls to him on his mobile telephone.

Aswat, who spent time in South Africa and Botswana before entering Zambia on July 6, had been on a watch list of Western intelligence agencies who tipped off Zambian authorities.