 | | Damn! Those're lips! How does he talk with those things? |
A British man in custody in Zambia in connection with the July 7 London bombings was once a body guard for al Qaida chief Osama bin Laden, Zambian security officials said. The security officials said Haroon Rashid Aswat, 31, revealed during questioning that he had once been a personal guard for bin Laden.
| Isn't that special, they'll have to use the good truncheons then |
Aswat was detained in Lusaka after he entered the country from Botswana, the Zambian officials said. Scotland Yard has declined to comment on Aswat's arrest in Zambia.
| That's one of the things I like about Scotland Yard, they don't have a lot of people blabbing to the press. |
The Zambian officials said investigators were particularly interested in talking to Aswat about 20 phone calls allegedly made from his phone to some of the men thought to have set off bombs July 7 on London's underground and a bus. The bombings killed 56 people, including the four suicide bombers.
"Hey, Asswat! These guys want to talk to you!"
"Those... those are pliers?"
"Uhuh."
"Electric pliers?"
"Naw. They're diesel powered!" |
Aswat entered Zambia last week from Botswana and intelligence agents trailed him to a safe house in Lusaka where he was arrested, the Zambian officials said. Prior to his arrival in Zambia, the sources said Aswat had lived in South Africa and frequently travelled to Mozambique and Botswana. One official said Zambia informed British High Commission officials as soon as they made the arrest, but the British said they believed Aswat had been detained in Pakistan.
| Turned out to be someone else named Aswat wearing a suicide belt. |
| That's his cousin, Herb Asswat. |
He said the British have since requested co-operation and access to Aswat. He said South Africa has also expressed interest in Aswat and want to find out what he was doing in South Africa. The British Foreign Office has said it was seeking access to a Briton reportedly detained in Zambia but would not identify him. |