(ANSA) - The brother of a key suspect in the failed July 21 terror attacks on London was released from jail on Monday but placed under house arrest pending further investigations.
Remzi Issac had been in custody at Rome's Regina Coeli prison since Italian police raided his flat on July 29 to seize his brother Hamdi, who found refuge there after fleeing London. Remzi will be allowed to return to his flat since police lifted an impounding order on it last week.
A similar order on his his Ethiopian clothing shop in the capital has also been revoked. A weeping Remzi told a Rome court last Thursday that he was not connected with Hamdi's activities. He also said he was certain that his brother had not meant to hurt anyone. "He loves life. Hamdi may have been swayed by someone else but I'll never believe that those bombs could have hurt anyone."
A three-judge panel decided on Wednesday to extradite Hamdi to the UK by September 21. Hamdi Issac has freely admitted his involvement in the attacks, in which no one was harmed, but insists they were
merely a "demonstrative" gesture.
His lawyer Antonietta Sonnessa, who also serves as counsel for Remzi, told reporters she would appeal the
decision in Italy's highest court. Details of the arrest warrant, which emerged during Wednesday's hearing, indicated that Italian police had discovered a map of Paris's metro system among Hamdi Issac's
possessions.
Other significant items, according to prosecutors, were flight tickets to Dubai, Addis Ababa and Athens, numerous phone cards, three cell phones, two computers, various identification documents and CDs. These showed he was a flight risk, as well as possibly "a member of an international association dedicated to carrying out terrorist acts", said the warrant.
Hamdi Issac, 27, was born in Ethiopia but lived in Italy from 1991 to 1996. A third brother, Fethi Issac, who was detained by police in Brescia shortly after police arrested his brothers in Rome, was released from custody during the weekend. Fethi was detained by police on suspicion of international terrorism and destroying evidence. In the end a judge rejected these accusations but accepted that he should remain in custody so that investigators could complete their enquiries into the web of friends and family which helped his brother flee to Italy.
An appeals court in Brescia released him on Saturday.
