Tube bomb: Police make sixth arrest
TERROR COPS QUIZ TEEN
A 17-YEAR-old has become the sixth suspect arrested by police hunting the Parsons Green Tube bombers.
Anti-terror officers swooped on the boy at his home in Thornton Heath, south London.
The arrest came as pictures emerged of an Iraqi IT student detained in Wales. He was named locally as Mahdi Ramidi, 25, and was said to be “smiling” when he was arrested in Newport on Tuesday.
Onlooker Shabnaz Bibi said: “It was all over very quickly. He was pushed to the floor and was smiling as he was arrested.”
Officers have until tomorrow to continue quizzing an 18-year-old asylum seeker suspected of being the bomb-maker.
Commander Dean Haydon, head of the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command, said: “This continues to be a fast-moving investigation. A significant amount of activity has taken place since Friday’s attack.”
More than 30 people were hurt when the device exploded on a rush hour train. It sent a “fireball” hurtling through the carriage as terrified passengers fled.
More raids are expected in the coming days as officers try to close the net on the terror cell. Two suspects were living with an elderly couple who fostered refugees.
Syrian Yahyah Farroukh, 21, and an unnamed 18-year-old were both arrested on Saturday.
Chicken shop worker Farroukh was detained on Saturday after finishing his shift in Hounslow, west London.
He was dragged to the ground by undercover officers dressed as homeless people, witnesses said.
His brother, who did not give his name, spoke of his shock at his arrest in an Arab TV interview.
He said: “He’s ambitious, loves the UK and studies to be a journalist. I can’t believe he has anything to do with terrorism.”
Two other men aged 48 and 30 were arrested on Wednesday in Newport.
Last night a 21-year-old man – understood to be Farroukh and the 48-yearold from Newport – were released with no further action, Scotland Yard said.
Four suspects being questioned remain in custody.