Tue, Aug 09, 2005 - Page 6 News List

Zambia deports terror suspects

NY TIMES NEWS SERVICE , LONDON

Aswat lived in Dewsbury, in northern England, in the same area as some of the July 7 bombers.

Aswat was detained in Zambia on July 20. The US had reportedly sought Aswat's arrest earlier, while he was in South Africa, but he slipped away through Botswana to Zambia.

Possible connection

In the investigation into the July 7 attacks in London, the police had reportedly initially sought to trace 20 phone calls made by Aswat to establish whether he was linked to the London bombings, but the police here have since played down the possibility of a connection.

The investigation has thrown up many theories, one of them of a link -- as reported in British newspapers on Sunday -- to two Moroccans suspected as Qaeda members who were shot dead in Saudi Arabia earlier this year. The men were identified in news reports as Abdulkarim el-Mejjati and Younis al-Hayyari.

The Saudi ambassador in London, Prince Turki al-Faisal, told BBC television on Sunday that it was "premature" to speak of such a link. "It is under investigation by both your security forces and our security forces," he said.

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