Italy court upholds extradition of UK bomb suspect

ROME - Italy's highest appeal court on Tuesday upheld the extradition to Britain of one of the suspected bombers in the July 21 attack on London's transport system, the British government's lawyer, Paolo Iorio, said.

Ethiopian-born Hamdi Issac, also known as Osman Hussein, was seized in Rome a week after the July 21 attacks, which killed no one but brought chaos to London exactly two weeks after suicide bombers had killed more than 50 people in the British capital.

Under Italian law, Issac must be sent to Britain within 10 days of the ruling, Iorio said.

Issac has admitted taking part in the July 21 attacks, in which four bombs were placed on London underground trains and a bus but did not explode, but said they were meant to scare people, not kill them.

Issac's defence lawyer had argued that there was not enough evidence to prove the bombs would have been fatal and that Issac would not receive a fair trial in Britain.

According to last month's lower court ruling, a copy of which was seen by Reuters, Issac said during questioning in Italy that he and his associates met the day before the attacks to prepare the devices.

The document cited British officials as saying they suspected the July 21 bombers used a homemade explosive known as TATP (triacetone triperoxide).

TATP is the explosive that British "shoebomber" Richard Reid placed in cavities in his shoes before trying unsuccessfully to ignite them on a transatlantic flight in 2001.

- REUTERS