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'I think bomber is living next door'

Jul 28 2005

By Guy Newey, Evening Mail

 

A NERVOUS neighbour who spotted one of the London bombers on her street in east Birmingham made the crucial call that led to the arrest of Yasin Hassan Omar.

Many of the families living in the tree-lined Hey-barnes Road had not even spotted him, but the keen-eyed resident was sure she had come face-to-face with the would-be suicide bomber.

This neighbour, who has not been named, dialled 999 to tip police off to Omar's presence in the Hay Mills flat, it was reported today.

Yasin Hassan Omar

It was the breakthrough the police needed and led directly to Omar's arrest under the Terrorism Act. Today, he continues to be questioned at Paddington Green police station in central London, where all key terror suspects are held.

The caller gave enough detail about the tall, thin Somalian carrying heavy boxes into number 63 for police to post a plain clothes officer in the street, watching the ground floor flat.

The caller was also furious at the noise, as the suspect and three other men shifted boxes to and from their car in the middle of the night.

Another neighbour Kieron Walsh, who lives opposite the flat, today told how he had rowed with Omar over parking.

Mr Walsh, an 18-year-old warehouse worker, had asked the Somalian to move one of several cars parked in the street.

Omar dismissed his request with a wave of the hand and the words "Yeah, yeah, yeah", and Mr Walsh said he had had nothing more to do with him.

"After he was that ignorant I didn't want to speak to him again," he added.

In yesterday's dawn raid, the peace of the quiet suburb was disturbed again - but this time by anti-terrorist police bursting through the door and arresting Omar.

Twenty minutes later a similar operation was carried out in Bankdale Road, in Washwood Heath.

The three men arrested there are still being questioned by police at an undisclosed location in the West Midlands.

Omar, aged 24, was last spotted in London following the failed Underground attacks before driving to Birmingham where he was met by other Somalis.

When officers burst in, Omar was reported to have tried to grab a rucksack, leading to the firing of 50,000 volts from a Taser gun to stun him.

One officer was then reported to have thrown the rucksack from the windown before Omar was bundled into a waiting police car, with other officers training weapons on him.

He was originally dressed in shorts and T-shirt and had been lying on a settee.

Witnesses who saw him being led from the house said he was wearing just a white forensic suit.

Police now have up to 14 days before they need to charge him.

 

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