By Bruce Smith, Louise Male, geoff fox and Neil Hudson
BRITAIN'S most wanted man – Egyptian biochemist Dr Magdy Elnashar – has been arrested near Cairo in connection with the London bombings.
The newly-qualified scientist from Leeds University, who is believed to have left Britain two weeks before the four bombings, was detained near the capital city of his home country.
Elnashar, 33, was taken into custody in suburban Cairo, Egypt, just days after British authorities had initiated a worldwide manhunt for him.
Detectives from the Metropolitan Anti-Terrorist Squad launched the hunt for a "plotmaster" responsible for building and setting up the bombing cell, have been trying locate Elnashar since the four massive bombs rocked the centre of London killing 54 people and injuring 700 others.
The four suicide bombers were from West Yorkshire – two from Leeds, one from Dewsbury and one from Huddersfield.
The YEP can also reveal that three of the bombers had been banned from Beeston's mosques.
It is believed that five weeks ago Magdy Elnashar rented the flat suspected to have been the bomb factory in Alexandra Grove, Hyde Park, Leeds. It is believed that at least two bombers had connections to the flat.
Explosives found at the bomb factory are said to be home-made – a type often associated with al-Qaeda attacks. It is understood the explosive was made in the bath.
Elnashar came to Leeds to study for a PhD in the School of Biochemistry in October 2000, said Leeds University. He was awarded a Bioscience Yorkshire Enterprise Fellowship, supported by Yorkshire Forward. He was entitled to £30,000 but he never accessed any of the cash.
He submitted his thesis in February this year and was awarded his doctorate on May 6 with a distinction.
Leeds University said he was seeking a post-doctoral post in the UK. It said his visa to stay in Britain had been updated by the Home Office earlier this year: "He has not been seen on the campus since the beginning of July," said a spokesperson.
Police who raided the flat Elnashar rented from Iraqi Dr Samir al-Arni, are believed to have found it empty of furniture.
Meanwhile it has emerged that three of the bombers – Habib Hussain, Shazad Tanweer and Mohammed Sadique Khan – had all been banned for an undisclosed period from the Hardy Street, Stratford Street and Tunstall Road mosques in Beeston.
Razaq Raj, a member of the Leeds Islamic Centre and a senior lecturer at Leeds Metropolitan University, said: "The three of them had been banned from the three mosques. I am not sure why they had been banned yet but I know they had been banned.
"Anybody who is suspicious and comes through any of the mosques, their information will be passed on to the police. These radical elements have to be thrashed out. We have to make sure this doesn't take place again."
The four men confirmed as the bombers are:
l Shehzad Tanweer, 22, of Colwyn Road, Beeston, Leeds, a sports science student and former pupil of Wortley High School who died when he detonated a bomb at Aldgate. It has been reported Tanweer was taught terror tactics at Osama bin Laden's house at a religious compound in Pakistan last year.
l Hasib Hussain, 18, of Colenso Mount, Holbeck, Leeds, a former pupil of Matthew Murray High School, who died when he detonated his bomb on the No 30 bus in Tavistock Square murdering 13 people;
l Mohammad Sidique Khan, 30, of Holm Lees, Dewsbury, but formerly of Leeds who worked as a teaching assistant at Hillside Primary School, Beeston, Leeds. He died on the Edgware Road tube;
l Lindsay Jamal, a 19-year-old Muslim convert with an English wife.
Jamal carried out the most deadly attack, killing at least 26 people at Russell Square. He was from Huddersfield but had been living in Aylesbury.
It is now believed that Khan, who visited Afghanistan and Pakistan on a number of occasions in recent years, may have recruited and inspired other members of the group to become martyrs. He is thought to have undergone training in the use of explosives and weapons.
Today Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Ian Blair said he expected the investigation into the London bombs to uncover a "clear al-Qaeda link".
Sir Ian issued a fresh warning that there was a "very strong possibility" of further terrorist attacks.
He acknowledged one man had entered the country shortly before the attacks but was not put under surveillance, even though he was on a watch list, because he wasn't considered high enough priority.
l Bomb disposal experts last night carried out a controlled explosion on a suspect package in Dewsbury.
It was the third such alarm police had been called to in the last 48 hours, after they attended two false alarms – one in Birstall, another in Cleckheaton.
bruce.a.smith@ypn.co.uk