New African Link to London Bomb Blasts

[Note this guy was also under surveillance here in S.Africa! Jan]

Washington - CNN television reported on Thursday that a suspected organiser of the London bomb attacks, Haroon Aswat, has been detained in Zambia.

The report, which quoted US and Zambian officials, said there were now international negotiations over who would get access to Aswat, who is also wanted in the United States.

Aswat, who is about 31, is a British-born Pakistani suspected of playing a role in organising the four suicide bomb attacks in London on July 7 which killed 52 people.

According to media reports, the hunt for Aswat intensified after it was found that his cellphone received up to 20 calls from the four London suicide bombers before the attacks.

US investigators also want to question Aswat over attempts to set up a terrorist training camp in Bly, Oregon.

CNN quoted US officials as saying Aswat was "in their grasp" one month before the London attacks, but British counterparts would not let them detain him.

It also quoted the sources as saying the suspect had been under surveillance in South Africa.