Britain's security services were last night investigating the UK connections of the suicide bomber who struck Stockholm on Saturday night.
Taimour Abdulwahab al-Abdaly, an Iraqi-born Swede, who set off a car bomb in the Swedish capital before killing himself with a second bomb strapped to his body, had a BSc in sports therapy from the University of Bedfordshire in 2004, and had spent some time in Luton in recent years. Well-placed Whitehall officials confirmed the bomber's identity and his link to a British university.
Metropolitan police officers last night searched a property in Bedfordshire under the Terrorism Act 2000, the force said. It was reported last night that his family still lived in Luton and that neighbours last saw him two and a half weeks ago.
Tahir Hussain, 33, a taxi driver who lives nearby, told the Daily Telegraph: "I used to see him around often. He didn't say much but seemed nice. I used to see him walking with his kids.
"I was shocked when I heard what happened because I never thought he could do such a thing."
Scotland Yard said: "At 10.55pm last night, Metropolitan Police officers executed a search warrant under the Terrorism Act 2000 at an address in Bedfordshire.
"No arrests have been made and no hazardous materials found."
The search at the property was expected to resume later today.
Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter, said he had travelled to Britain and Jordan in the runup to Saturday's attack, in which he was the only victim.
On an Islamic dating site, Muslima.com, where he was seeking a second wife, Abdaly, 29, listed Luton as his address, and said he met his first wife in Bedfordshire.
However, his car was registered in Sweden, and the motives declared in emails sent to a Swedish news agency and the security police, addressed local issues. The emails refer to a Swedish cartoonist, Lars Vilks, whose 2007 drawing of the Prophet Muhammad as a dog infuriated Muslims around the world, and to Sweden's 500 soldiers in Afghanistan. "Now your children, daughters and sisters shall die like our brothers and sisters and children are dying," the email warned.
The car bomb caught fire but did not explode and caused minimal damage in a busy Stockholm shopping street. Only one of several bombs Abdaly had strapped to his body blew up, killing him but nobody else.
Sweden's prime minister, Fredrik Reinfeldt, cautioned that no connection between the emails and the bombs had been proved. "We know that a man is dead. We know that a car exploded. We know that some threats has been given to the secret police and media," he said. "But we are not sure they are connected. And I think it's very important not to give final answers based on speculation."
British intelligence sources suggested Abdaly was one of an increasing number of individuals influenced by al-Qaida ideology who have spent time in the UK. However, they said there was no indication the bomber was directed by al-Qaida – he had probably planned his own attack.
The fact that the Stockholm attack failed suggests al-Qaida is not in a position to train its supporters properly, British sources said.
Terrorism experts suggested al-Qaida and its allies were increasingly favouring one-man attacks on targets of opportunity, rather than long-planned, sophisticated and spectacular assaults such as 9/11.
The vice-chancellor of Bedfordshire University, Les Ebdon, said he would be urgently checking the registration records to verify whether Abdaly had attended.
He told the Guardian: "We have a harmonious campus and we haven't had any cases of terrorist or radical activities on campus since I've been vice-chancellor, around seven years. In the present world however I am not complacent about it."
The university was wrongly linked to one of the 7/7 bombers, reports of which resulted in public apologies from one newspaper. "We have experienced erroneous linkages before and we will certainly cooperate if this case is proved and any authorities want to speak with us," Ebdon said. "The impact is quite serious because it particularly damages our reputation abroad."
From: Guardian
From: Guardian