Attacks In London: Doubts over extradition as suspect is charged in

Extradition proceedings for the London bombing suspect held in Italy were delayed yesterday after an investigating magistrate said that the court had not received full documentation from Britain.

As further details emerged of how Hussain Osman was tracked to Italy and arrested, another judge in Rome issued domestic charges against him. The impact on the extradition process remained unclear last night.

The Home Office said it was confident the proceedings " a test case for the recently introduced European arrest warrant " were 'on track' and that Osman would be returned to face trial within the three-month time limit. The National Criminal Intelligence Service, which issued the warrant on 29 July, said that all the necessary paperwork had been sent to Rome.

Osman, 27, is wanted over the failed bomb attack at Shepherd's Bush Tube station on 21 July. Osman, who fled on a Eurostar service last Tuesday, was tracked to Italy using his mobile phone, which was being monitored by police and intelligence services in Britain using 'triangulation methods'. Italian police sent tapes of his calls to London, where experts were able to confirm that the voice was that of Osman. According to reports in Italy, one of the calls was to Saudi Arabia.

He was arrested without a struggle after police apparently persuaded his brother to hand over the keys of his flat.

Italian police said yesterday that they hoped Osman would be extradited soon. Carlo De Stefano, the head of Italy's anti- terrorist police, said of the process: 'I hope it won't take very long.' Mr De Stefano added that British police alerted Italian police that one of the suspects had left Britain.

Mr De Stefano said that checks were carried out on Italian phone numbers that had, in the past, been in contact with Osman. Specialist police were immediately involved, and more phone checks led to Osman's arrest in the south Rome suburb of Tor Pignatarra.

The police chief also revealed that Osman had injured his thigh while allegedly making his escape from the scene of the Shepherd's Bush attempted attack. He is thought to have hurt it on a fence. He said Osman, one of five brothers, appeared to be a member of an ad hoc group, rather than a structured organisation.

Detectives are still questioning 18 people arrested over the past week, including the three suspects for the 21 July attacks " Muktar Said Ibrahim, 27, and Ramzi Muhammed, both arrested in North Kensington last Friday, and Yasin Omar, 21, arrested in Birmingham last Wednesday.

Mohammed's brother, Wahbi Mohammed, is also being questioned over the unexploded fifth bomb found two days after the attempted attacks.

It also emerged yesterday that Osman's real name is Hamdi Isaac and that he had also changed his country of birth from Ethiopia to Somalia when he moved from Italy to England in 1996, to help gain political refugee status and financial assistance.

In Rome, two investigating magistrates, Judges Franco Ionta and Pietro Saviotti, again interrogated Osman and his brother Remzi, who was also arrested on Friday. A third brother was arrested on Sunday.

The two Ethiopians were initially charged with using false passports, while Osman was also charged with membership of an international terrorist group. Those charges were confirmed yesterday and are believed to be required in order for Osman to remain in prison.

The start of the main extradition hearing over Britain's request for Osman to be returned to London was expected to be held yesterday, but was delayed at the last minute because Britain had sent Italian authorities 'only partial documentation,' according to the magistrate Judge Domenico Miceli, who is in charge of that hearing.

The Italian authorities said a definitive date for the main hearing is expected to be set later this week.

There are some reports that the Italian authorities might prefer to keep Osman in Italy to assist in a separate Italian investigation into the death of the Italian citizen Benedetta Ciaccia, who was among those killed in the 7 July Tube bombings. There is no suggestion at the moment that Osman is linked to those attacks.

If domestic proceedings are finally issued in Italy, they would normally take precedence over extradition. A trial could take a year or more to reach court although, under the new arrangement, Osman would be returned to Britain once proceedings were completed and not, as previously thought, at the end of any sentence.

However, since the Italian authorities are known to be keen to co- operate with Britain's request, it could be that any domestic charges could simply be dropped to let the extradition take place.

Osman's lawyer confirmed that her client had asked not to be extradited to Britain, preferring to remain in Italy, where he lived during the 1990s.

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