Briton held in Zambia over attacks
LUSAKA, Zambia (AP) -- Authorities in Zambia have detained a British man sought in connection with the July 7 London bombings, a Zambian official said. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Haroon Rashid Aswat, 31, had been detained in the Zambian border town of Livingstone after he crossed from Zimbabwe. The official declined to give any other details. British investigators believe Aswat had been in phone contact with several of the four suicide bombers who killed themselves and 52 others in the attacks. The Los Angeles Times and other news media have reported that he was detained by Zambian authorities last week. The British Foreign Office said it was seeking access to a Briton reportedly detained in Zambia but would not identify him or say if Aswat was the man they were seeking for questioning. "We are seeking consular access to a British national who is reported to be in custody in Zambia," a spokesman for the Foreign Office said on customary condition of anonymity. "We can't say what it's in connection with until we have gained access, and we can't confirm anything about the identity of the person until we have seen them." A British citizen of Indian descent, Aswat reportedly interested investigators when they discovered that about 20 calls had been placed from his cell phone to some of the four bombers. The Zambian Embassy in London had no immediate comment. Last week, an American once accused of trying to set up a terror training camp in the western U.S. state of Oregon was questioned about Aswat. That man, James Ujaama, a Muslim convert from Seattle, was charged in 2002 with trying to set up a terrorist training camp for Muslim cleric Abu Hamza al-Masri. He pleaded guilty to lesser charges in exchange for cooperating with terrorism investigations until 2013. Three U.S. federal law enforcement officials said on July 22 that Ujaama was being questioned about Aswat, who also was implicated in the 1999 plan to establish a training camp in Bly, Oregon. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the investigation. The officials did not say whether Ujaama has provided any useful information on Aswat, and Ujaama's lawyer, Peter Offenbecher, declined to comment. Federal officials have said Ujaama's help was crucial in last year's indictment of al-Masri on charges that included trying to establish the Oregon camp. Al-Masri, formerly the head preacher at London's Finsbury Park mosque, also faces British charges of incitement to murder. He is being held in England. Aswat is one of two al-Masri associates who are referred to but not named or charged in the 2002 indictment of Ujaama by a federal grand jury in Seattle, officials said. The other is Oussama Kassir, a Lebanese-born Swede, who was convicted of weapons violations in Sweden in 2003. Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Find this article at: http://edition.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/europe/07/29/london.tube.ap/index.ht ml SAVE THIS | EMAIL THIS | Close Check the box to include the list of links referenced in the article. ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> <font face=arial size=-1><a href="http://us.ard.yahoo.com/SIG=12h30gg0b/M=362335.6886444.7839734.2575449/D=groups/S=1705796846:TM/Y=YAHOO/EXP=1122647028/A=2894362/R=0/SIG=138c78jl6/*http://www.networkforgood.org/topics/arts_culture/?source=YAHOO&cmpgn=GRP&RTP=http://groups.yahoo.com/";>What would our lives be like without music, dance, and theater?Donate or volunteer in the arts today at Network for Good</a>.</font> --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Post message: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe : [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe : [EMAIL PROTECTED] List owner : [EMAIL PROTECTED] Homepage : http://proletar.8m.com/ Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/proletar/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
