Suspected bomber tied to al Qaeda

LONDON – Investigators have linked one of the suspected London suicide bombers to a group of accused extremists arrested here last year in a foiled terrorist plot by a Pakistan-based al Qaeda group, authorities said Wednesday.

Mohammed Sidique Khan, a 30-year-old primary school teacher, has emerged as a key figure among the four suspected bombers, European and U.S. investigators said. Although officials had said that Khan and the other three suspects were unknown to security forces before last week’s bombings, investigators now believe Khan was an associate of some of the suspects in last year’s foiled plot linked to Pakistan.

That strengthens suspicions that the London attacks were executed by an al Qaeda branch that teamed Pakistani masterminds with Pakistani-British operatives and had tried to strike Britain before, the investigators said.

Investigators believe Khan and the other bombers, who traveled extensively to countries including Pakistan, Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia, received training from al Qaeda specialists. Khan may have helped recruit and prepare his fellow bombers, like him all British-Pakistanis from the northern city of Leeds, investigators said.

“That’s a connection that they are following right now,” said a U.S. law enforcement official familiar with the investigation who asked not to be identified. “Khan is a pretty key individual. He’s a common denominator between the two cases.”

The Pakistani connection distinguishes the London bombings from other recent attacks in Europe such as last year’s Madrid, Spain, train bombings, which allegedly were carried out by North African networks shuttling militants between Europe and an Iraq battle theater dominated by a new generation of al Qaeda figures such as Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.