(ANSA) - The real name of the suspected Ethiopian terrorist arrested in the Italian capital on Friday is Hamdi Adus Issac, not Isaac as previously reported and not and not Osman Hussain, as indicated in his British identification papers, Italian authorities announced here on Saturday.
The 27-year-old Ethiopian had also initially been identified as being a Somali.
Italian magistrates dealing with Britain's extradition request met with the terrorist suspect on Saturday and were reportedly told that he wanted to remain in Italy. Hamdi Adus Issac was arrested at the home here of his brother, Remzi Adus Issac. After allegedly taking part in the failed July 21 bomb attacks on the London transportation system, Hamdi Adus Issac is believed to have fled the British capital by train on July 26 and made his way to Rome via Paris and Milan.
Italy's Interior Minister Giuseppe Pisanu told parliament on Saturday that his arrest was made possible through a coordinated operation between police in Milan, Brescia and Rome, together with the collaboration of British police. Italian investigators, who reportedly traced the suspected terrorist whereabouts through his cell phone, made over a dozen searchs in several Italian cities on Saturday to try and find out if the fugitive had received any help.
Minister Pisanu, in fact, also told parliament that a well-embedded underground network in the Ethiopian and Eritrean communities in Italy may have helped Hamdi Adus Issac flee London and arrive in Italy. At the same time, however, it was also in part thanks to the collaboration of the Somali community here that police were able to locate the Ethiopian fugitive, the minister added.
