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Tel Aviv suspects in UK custody
LONDON, England (CNN) -- Six suspects arrested in central England in connection with a suicide bombing in Israel remain in custody in the UK, police said Monday. The six, arrested in Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire on Friday and Saturday, can be held for up to seven days, Scotland Yard said. The three men and three women are being held in connection with the suicide bomb attack at a cafe in Tel Aviv last week that killed three civilians and injured 55. Suicide bomber Asif Hanif, 21, who held a British passport, was also killed in the blast. His 27-year-old suspected accomplice, Omar Kahn Sharif, also in possession of a British passport, escaped and is still being hunted by security forces. The six are being held under Section 41 of the Terrorism Act 2000, which relates to those suspected of being involved in the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism. They are at an undisclosed police station. The arrests followed a joint operation by British and Israeli security services, and are part of continuing inquiries. Two men and two women were arrested in Derbyshire late Friday, while one woman was arrested in Nottinghamshire. The sixth was taken into custody Saturday in London. Search warrants were also executed at addresses in Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire. Sharif was said by police to have intended to carry out a suicide attack, but was not able to detonate his explosives. He fled after a brief struggle with some Israelis. (Briton hunted) The attack is thought to be the first suicide bombing carried out by a foreigner in the 31-month-old Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation, Reuters said. It was also the first in which the bombers crossed into Israel from Gaza rather than the West Bank, and Reuters reported that Israel has tightened security to prevent further infiltrations. Britain has pledged to help catch the fugitive Sharif and those who may have helped the pair. On Friday, Chancellor Gordon Brown ordered British banks to freeze the two men's accounts. "We must remain constantly vigilant in all areas in bearing down on terrorism and the sources that finance it," the chancellor said in a statement. "We have taken immediate action to ensure that no UK funds belonging to those suspected of being responsible for this atrocity can be used."
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