July 7 bomber’s widow held in anti-terror raid

James Sturcke and agencies

The widow of the July 7 suicide bomber, Mohammed Sidique Khan, was among four people arrested in a series of anti-terror raids today.

Hasina Patel, 29, was arrested in a two-storey mid-terrace house on Dale Street, Thornhill Lees, Dewsbury, police sources said.

It is understood that among the three males arrested was a man from Tempest Road in Leeds - the same street where the July 7 Aldgate bomber, Shehzad Tanweer, lived.

Another man, aged 30, was also arrested in West Yorkshire along with a 22-year-old man in Birmingham.

Police were seen leaving and entering the Dale Street property, where the curtains were closed and a red Vauxhall was parked in the driveway.

Police officers were also seen in unmarked cars outside the three-bedroom housing association house.

The property was one of five houses in West Yorkshire - two in Dewsbury, two in Beeston and one in Batley - and two flats in Birmingham cordoned off and searched by police.

Unarmed officers carried out the raids, which were connected to the July 7 2005 London bombings, in which 52 people were killed.

The arrests took place just after 7am today and the four people detained were taken to a central London police station to be interviewed by anti-terror officers.

They are being held on suspicion of the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism, under the Terrorism Act 2000.

The arrests were made by the Met’s counter-terrorism command and counter-terrorism units from the West Yorkshire and West Midlands forces.

“Since July 7 2005, when 52 people were murdered, detectives have continued to pursue many lines of inquiry both here in the UK and overseas,” the Met said. “This remains a painstaking investigation with a substantial amount of information being analysed and investigated.

“As we have said previously, we are determined to follow the evidence wherever it takes us to identify any other person who may have been involved, in any way, in the terrorist attacks.”

A Met spokesman reissued an appeal for information about how the bombers - Khan, Tanweer, Jermaine Lindsay and Hasib Hussein - were motivated and financed.

“We need to know who else, apart from the bombers, knew what they were planning. Did anyone encourage them? Did anyone help them with money or accommodation?” the spokesman said.

West Yorkshire police said neighbourhood officers were meeting local people to keep them updated and informed about activity in their areas and to reassure the wider community.

“We would like to thank people for their understanding and support at this time and would ask that it continues,” the force said in a statement. “Although we are legally limited in how much we can say, we will share as much information as we can with those living in the vicinity and with the wider community.

“As usual, local neighbourhood policing teams are on patrol in the areas and we would ask anyone with concerns to speak directly to them.”

Officers said they did not believe any of the premises being searched in West Yorkshire contained anything that could be a threat to the local community.

In Beeston, police officers were patrolling the streets. On Tempest Road, close to Tanweer’s family home, an officer guarded the front door of an address while another stood guard in the back garden.

West Midlands police said the 22-year-old man was arrested at 7.25am in the Selly Oak area of Birmingham and a full forensic search was being conducted at a house in the Handsworth area of the city.

In the Selly Oak area of Birmingham, police stood guard at a student hall of residence believed to be the location of one of the raids.

A police lorry took away a silver Peugeot 307 from the Victoria Hall block of flats on Grange Road.

“A police presence will be visible at this location for a number of days,” a statement said. Two other addresses were being searched in Selly Oak.

Last month, the first three people to be charged in connection with the London attacks appeared via video link before a judge at the Old Bailey. Mohammed Shakil, 30, Sadeer Saleem, 26, and Waheed Ali, 23, of Beeston, Leeds, are accused of conspiring with the four bombers to cause explosions.

There has been criticism of both the police and the security services over their handling of the July 7 attacks.

Last week, it emerged that two of the bombers, Khan and Tanweer, had been filmed by British security officials more than a year before the July 7 bombings on three London tube trains and a London bus.

They were filmed meeting two men at a service station on the M1. The details emerged after the conviction of five men for planning a separate attack. Two of the London bombers were acquaintances of the convicted plotters.

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