The British press is reporting the arrest of a prominent student Muslim leader, Waheed Zaman.
Minutes later plain-clothes cops swooped on nearby 104 Queens Road and arrested biochemistry student Waheed Zaman, 23.
He had been watching TV with elder sister Safeena minutes before being led to a van in handcuffs.
The devout Muslim, who prayed five times a day, is well known in the Islamic community.
He was the head of the Islamic Society of Metropolitan University, London, and regularly spoke at Muslim rallies.
Last night Safeena, 24, said her brother was proud of being British and being born in Britain.
She said: “He loves fish and chips and Liverpool Football Club and his favourite TV programme is Only Fools And Horses.
“He even wanted to join the police as a forensics expert.
“As part of his work with the Islamic Society at university he would organise Muslim events and would often give talks. He is a great believer in the importance of integration between our community and the Western world.”
But pal Nasser Fazal, 23, revealed: “I spoke to Waheed about the September 11 attacks a few times. He told me he was convinced it was all a Jewish conspiracy.” The suspect has a part-time job at world-famous toy store Hamleys in London’s Regent Street. He prays at the Masjid-e-Umer mosque opposite his home, along with several others of those arrested.
The Sun is also reporting that the London bombing suspect met often with MP George Galloway (who was reportedly involved financially in the Saddam’s Oil-for-Palaces program):
TERROR suspect Waheed Zaman met controversial MP George Galloway many times, his sister said last night.
Safeena, 24, said of her 23-year-old brother: “He saw it as his duty to stand up for his community and that’s what led him to know George Galloway. He has a lot of respect for him and has met him many times.”
A spokesman for MP Galloway . . . said: “Waheed Zaman is not a name that George is familiar with. He is not known to him on a personal level.”
[There is no suggestion Galloway is an associate of Zaman.]