Bob
08-01-2005, 11:58 AM
Italy's top anti-terror policeman today described how officers swooped on the missing London bomb suspect Hussain Osman in Rome after pinpointing calls he made on his mobile phone.
NI_MPU('middle');Carlo De Stefano, who heads Italy's anti-terrorist branch, said that officers confirmed Hussain's identity partly from his distinctive dialect and partly from a wound on his right leg, that he allegedly sustained when he vaulted out of Westbourne Park tube station after his bomb failed to go off on July 21.
Signor De Stefano confirmed that Osman had falsified his name and nationality when applying for asylum in Britain in 1996. His real name is Hamdi Issac and he was born in Ethiopia, not Somalia as he claimed to immigration officials in 1996. Britain does not generally grant asylum to refugees from Ethiopia.
He said that it appeared he was part of an "ad-hoc group" rather than a structured terrorist organisation.
"Investigative evidence gathered so far does not support the theory that there are links with other investigations in Italy into Islamic terrorism, nor with terrorist organisations active in our country," Signor De Stefano told a press conference this morning.
"The behaviour of Osman, as documented by investigations carried out in Italy, lead to it being thought probable that he belongs to an ad-hoc group, rather than a structured organisation... We are talking about a group which was acting extemporaneously."
Hussain, born in Ethiopia as Hamdi Issac, changed his name and claimed he was from Somalia when he applied for political asylum, Signor De Stefano said in the first police briefing since the Rome arrest last Friday.
"He changed his name to Osman Hussain when he arrived in London. He falsely declared he was a Somali citizen to obtain the status of political refugee and economic assistance more easily," he said.
Italian police began their investigations when they were informed by Scotland Yard on Tuesday that one of the suspects in the attempted bombings of July 21 had fled Britain and had in the past made calls to Italian telephones. The four failed attacks came two weeks after four suicide bombers killed 52 commuters in the London rush hour.
The Italians were told that the suspect made a phone call to Saudi Arabia on Tuesday or Wednesday - a call that was believed to be aimed at finding out the number for one of the suspect’s brothers in Rome.
Police honed in on a mobile phone being used by Hussain, locating him in Rome on Thursday after discovering that he had replaced the phone's UK SIM card - which stores an individual’s phone number and other account data - with an Italian one.
On Friday, the day of the arrest, Italian police recorded conversations in which Hussain talked in an Ethiopian dialect used in a border region between Eritrea and Somalia. They confirmed his identity after sending the recordings to London to be checked, Signor De Stefano said.
The suspect was being held in a Rome prison and was awaiting possible extradition. "I believe that it won’t take long," he said.
Hussain was being questioned today by a judge who had to decide whether to bring international terrorism charges.
NI_MPU('middle');Carlo De Stefano, who heads Italy's anti-terrorist branch, said that officers confirmed Hussain's identity partly from his distinctive dialect and partly from a wound on his right leg, that he allegedly sustained when he vaulted out of Westbourne Park tube station after his bomb failed to go off on July 21.
Signor De Stefano confirmed that Osman had falsified his name and nationality when applying for asylum in Britain in 1996. His real name is Hamdi Issac and he was born in Ethiopia, not Somalia as he claimed to immigration officials in 1996. Britain does not generally grant asylum to refugees from Ethiopia.
He said that it appeared he was part of an "ad-hoc group" rather than a structured terrorist organisation.
"Investigative evidence gathered so far does not support the theory that there are links with other investigations in Italy into Islamic terrorism, nor with terrorist organisations active in our country," Signor De Stefano told a press conference this morning.
"The behaviour of Osman, as documented by investigations carried out in Italy, lead to it being thought probable that he belongs to an ad-hoc group, rather than a structured organisation... We are talking about a group which was acting extemporaneously."
Hussain, born in Ethiopia as Hamdi Issac, changed his name and claimed he was from Somalia when he applied for political asylum, Signor De Stefano said in the first police briefing since the Rome arrest last Friday.
"He changed his name to Osman Hussain when he arrived in London. He falsely declared he was a Somali citizen to obtain the status of political refugee and economic assistance more easily," he said.
Italian police began their investigations when they were informed by Scotland Yard on Tuesday that one of the suspects in the attempted bombings of July 21 had fled Britain and had in the past made calls to Italian telephones. The four failed attacks came two weeks after four suicide bombers killed 52 commuters in the London rush hour.
The Italians were told that the suspect made a phone call to Saudi Arabia on Tuesday or Wednesday - a call that was believed to be aimed at finding out the number for one of the suspect’s brothers in Rome.
Police honed in on a mobile phone being used by Hussain, locating him in Rome on Thursday after discovering that he had replaced the phone's UK SIM card - which stores an individual’s phone number and other account data - with an Italian one.
On Friday, the day of the arrest, Italian police recorded conversations in which Hussain talked in an Ethiopian dialect used in a border region between Eritrea and Somalia. They confirmed his identity after sending the recordings to London to be checked, Signor De Stefano said.
The suspect was being held in a Rome prison and was awaiting possible extradition. "I believe that it won’t take long," he said.
Hussain was being questioned today by a judge who had to decide whether to bring international terrorism charges.