| Magdy Mahmoud Mustafa El-nashar |
Website Links For Mahmoud |
Information AboutMagdy Mahmoud Mustafa El-nashar |
|
Magdy Mahmoud Mustafa el-Nashar, (also spelled '''Magdi'''; , 1972 in Cairo , Egypt ), a Lecturer at the University Of Leeds with a recent Doctorate in Biochemistry . During investigations into the 7 July 2005 London Bombings , materials that tested positive as explosives were reportedly found at a flat he had rented in Leeds , where his acquaintance Hasib Hussain was living at the time of the bombings. However, Egyptian authorities have cleared el-Nashar of involvement in the bombings, and British police say that he is "no longer an active part" of their investigation. BIOGRAPHY Born in the Ezbet Fahmy section of El Basateen (Al Basatin), a poor district in Greater Cairo, El-Nashar received a Bachelor's and a Master's from Cairo University , then briefly attended North Carolina State University in the United States , for Chemical Engineering . He came to the UK in October 2000 to study biochemistry at the University of Leeds, reportedly on a scholarship from the Egyptian education ministry. His education qualified him as a lecturer (assistant Professor ) and he was awarded a Bioscience Yorkshire Fellowship award of $70,000 in 2004. The award, not yet collected by El-Nashar, was intended to support his investigation into a new industrial biocatalyst. A man who knew the scientist told the Yorkshire Post: "He was extremely charming and very intelligent, a very typical Egyptian with perfect manners. He was obviously quite a brilliant chemist." Colleagues in Cairo described him as a non-political loner. He rented a flat in Burley , which has many rental properties and is popular with students. A natty dresser in glasses, he was an active worshiper at the Leeds Grand Mosque. He had completed his doctoral work in February 2005 (receiving a Ph.D. on 26 May ), but acquired a visa extension for seeking work, telling neighbours that an academic opportunity in Dublin had fallen through. Last seen in mid-June, he told his landlord he would return to Egypt because of visa problems, but the university has indicated his visa was updated. ALLEGED INVOLVEMENT IN LONDON BOMBINGS A month before the attacks, El-Nashar rented 18 Alexandra Grove in Burley from Shakir Al-Ani, an Iraqi-born Neurophysiologist and hospital consultant who has lived in Britain for 25 years. Al-Ani, who had known El-Nashar for some time, was told of an acquaintance who needed the flat, British native Hasib Hussain . Hussain asked if he could move the furniture out because he needed the space. Police determined that Al-Ani's phone number was in the Mobile Phone owned by Hussain, which his brother Imran Hussain used to call Al-Ani in search of the missing Hasib. When Al-Ani received the call, he reported being shaken, not having considered his friend El-Nashar likely to be involved in terrorism. During a police search on 12 July , "kilos" of explosive materials (which police sources told BBC Newsnight were Acetone Peroxide , or TATP) were found in the bath; some 500 neighbors were evacuated for their removal, in some cases for days, while further searches took place. On 14 July Egyptian police arrested El-Nashar in south Cairo in response to a world-wide alert. El-Nashar denied any links to the bombings and said he was on vacation, having left all his belongings in Britain. He said he never visited the apartment while Hussein was living there. Egyptian authorities say they found no evidence that El-Nashar had any involvement in the bombings. He was released from police custody on 9 August . REFERENCES
|
|
|