Author: Duncan Gardham and Catriona
Davies
Publication: The Telegraph
Date: July 27, 2005
URL: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/07/27/nbomb227.xml
The suspected terrorist accused
of trying to bomb a tube train at Warren Street used to berate a Muslim
shopkeeper for selling alcohol, it was claimed last night.
Yasin Hussan Omar, 24, a Somalian
national who arrived in Britain as a child, lived in a rented flat in New
Southgate, north London.
One shopkeeper, Mohammed Hassan,
claimed yesterday that Omar had accused him of not being a "proper Muslim".
"I never got the impression he had
any money and he would complain about me selling alcohol, telling me I
was not a good Muslim," Mr Hassan said.
Another shopkeeper, Ali Dursun,
claimed Omar often railed about halal meat.
"He said Turkish people were not
proper Muslims," Mr Dursan said.
Omar had received £75 a week
in housing benefit between 1999 and May this year for the flat, on the
ninth floor of a 12-storey tower block.
Explosives experts examined material
found inside the flat yesterday and police searched lock-up garages nearby.
Omar was among a group of North
Africans who regularly played Sunday football in Arnos Park near the flat.
Meanwhile, the family of Ibrahim
- the first to report his name to police after his CCTV image was released
- said yesterday that he had not visited their home in Harrow for many
months.
However, Sarah Scott, a neighbour
of Ibrahim's parents, claimed she had seen him in the area about two weeks
ago.
Miss Scott, 23, said Ibrahim had
tried to convert her to Islam and had told her 80 virgins would be waiting
for him if he died loyal to Allah. "I have known him since I was about
11," she said. "He was here about two weeks ago. It would have been after
the July 7 bombings. He was pretty calm but then he was always calm."
She said he had given her a pamphlet
on Islam last year. "We were sitting down having a fag and he asked me
if I was Catholic because I have Irish family," she said. "I said I didn't
believe in anything and he said I should.
"He told me he was going to have
all these virgins and he got to have them if he prayed to Allah. He gave
me a book and told me to read it. He said it would change my views and
any questions I should ask him. I didn't realise he was a terrorist."
A friend of Ibrahim, who would give
him name only as Kawser, praised the actions of the suicide bombers. Speaking
yesterday outside the flat Ibrahim and Omar shared in New Southgate, he
said: "As a Muslim I believe it's one of the most honorable ways to die,
defending your beliefs.
"You shouldn't do it because people
will think you are brave but for Allah.
"It depends on the situation, but
if someone gave me a bomb and said, 'Go and do it', I would have to consider
it. If I was in a situation, at a time of war, to go and blow up civilians,
I don't think I would do it. But to go and attack the Houses of Parliament
or Downing Street, they are military targets. I hope the bombers go to
paradise after giving up their lives as martyrs."
Ibrahim's brother, Amir, briefly
emerged from the family home yesterday wearing a scarf and hooded top to
cover his face and tried to throw a dustbin at television cameras.
"I haven't seen him," he said. "He
has not lived here since he was 18. My mum and dad are sick with the stress
of all this."
