Court hears 21/7 suspect could in fact be a hero

Last updated at 16:15 17 April 2007


Not only was one of the 21 July suspects not a suicide bomber, but he potentially saved a tower block of people from being blown up, a court has heard.

Manfo Asiedu, who the Crown claims was the fifth bomber, dismantled a booby-trapped sideboard at the north London "bomb factory".

Stephen Kamlish QC said: "He's not asking for any applause but... he was in fact responsible -potentially - for saving the block and all the people in it."

The barrister was opening the case for Asiedu, 34, who "broke rank" and turned on co-defendant Muktar Said Ibrahim two months into the trial.

Mr Kamlish said his client - who the jury was told is really called Sumailia Abubakhari - was "used and abused" by Ibrahim and it was his "influence" as well as that of codefendant Yassin Omar's which had stopped him "giving the game away".

The barrister also said that until recently, Mr Ibrahim and co-defendant Yassin Omar's "influence" had stopped him "from giving the game away".

The barrister added that there was "simply no evidence" of Mr Asiedu being a fanatic and that "being a fanatic is a basic minimum requirement for being a suicide bomber".

The six accused are Mr Muktar Said Ibrahim, 29, of Stoke Newington, north London; Mr Ramzi Mohammed, 25; Mr Yassin Omar, 26, of New Southgate, north London; Mr Manfo Kwaku Asiedu, and Mr Hussein Osman 28, both of no fixed address; and Adel Yahya, 24, of Tottenham, north London.

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