Three London bomb suspects in court

Three men arrested over failed attempts to bomb Britain's capital appeared in a high-security courtroom yesterday charged with attempting to murder passengers on London's transport system.

A judge remanded Ibrahim Muktar Said, Ramzi Mohammed and Yassin Hassan Omar in custody until November 14. A fourth suspect in the alleged plot to bomb three underground trains and a double-decker bus on July 21 has been arrested in Italy.

The failed bombings caused no casualties but took place two weeks after four British Muslim men set off bombs on three underground trains and a bus, killing themselves and 52 other people in an attack police have linked to al Qaeda.

The Islamist militant group threatened last week to bring more destruction to Britain and has said Western nations would not live in peace until they withdraw their troops from Iraq and other Muslim countries.

Police arrested Said, aged 27, Mohammed, 23, and Omar, 24, in raids in Britain last month. They are all charged with attempted murder, conspiracy to murder and explosives offences. The charges carry a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.

The defendants in the modern Belmarsh court, part of a prison compound in east London, were dressed in sweatpants and T-shirts or sweatshirts. They will be asked to plead when they appear in court again in November.

A fourth man, Manfo Kwaku Asiedu, 32, was remanded in custody until November charged with conspiracy to murder and explosives offences. A police source said he was the man dubbed the "Fifth Bomber" in British media, after a bag of explosives was found in a London park a few days after the July 21 attacks.

Three other men were remanded in custody until Thursday, accused of either failing to help police find the main suspects or helping them get away. All pleaded not guilty yesterday.

The fourth main suspect, Hamdi Issac, also known as Osman Hussein, was arrested in Rome and has indicated through his lawyer that he will fight extradition to Britain.

Following the London bombings, some politicians and newspapers have called for a crackdown on British-based Muslim clerics who incite or condone attacks.

Government officials said yesterday they were considering bringing treason charges against clerics who appear to back attacks against Britain. French media reported yesterday that French intelligence services warned in a report written in late June that al Qaeda planned to use Britain's large Pakistani community to strike.

Three of the four bombers who blew themselves up in the July 7 attacks were Britons of Pakistani origin.

The court in London also remanded in custody a suspected Islamist radical arrested on a US extradition warrant which accuses him of trying to set up a militant training camp in the US state of Oregon.