'He told me he was going to get 80 virgins'

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By Terry Kirby, Cahal Milmo and Terri Judd
Published: 27 July 2005

They came to Britain seeking sanctuary from famine and war in east Africa, receiving assistance, education and help from the state. But yesterday, Yasin Hassan Omar and Muktar Said Ibrahim were the subject of a massive police hunt ­ suspected suicide bombers who attempted to cause carnage in the country they had made their home.

As police continued a fast-moving manhunt for the two men ­ along with two unknown accomplices ­ a contrasting picture of the pair emerged. Some friends said they were normal men who played football in the park every Sunday and, seemingly, both wanted to consider themselves part of British life. But another picture ­ of criminality, hardline Islamic beliefs and hostility to their adopted country ­ also emerged.

Said Ibrahim, 27, also known as Mohammed Said, arrived in Britain from Eritrea in 1992, aged 14, to join his family who had been in the country for two years. He was granted exceptional leave to remain and is believed to have lived with his family in Henselin Close in the Stanmore area on the northern outskirts of London and, until 1994, attended Canons High School in Edgware. He was granted British citizenship last September. Omar, 24, who arrived from Somalia in 1993 when he was 12, was granted indefinite leave to remain here.

Ibrahim appears to have had a chequered life. Reports emerged last night suggesting that he was convicted at the age of 17 for being part of a teenage gang which terrorised commuters at railway stations.

http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/crime/article301883.ece