Report: Syria’s Assad releases alleged al-Qaida mastermind of 2005 London bombings

Haaretz
February 5, 2012

The regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad released the alleged mastermind of a July 2005 series of London bombings, a Syrian opposition site said on Sunday, adding that the move was meant as a warning to Western powers to stay out of the political crisis in country.

According to the report, Syrian authorities released top al-Qaida operative and Aleppo native Abu Musab al-Suri, whose real name is Mustafa Sit-Mariam, who has been held in Syria since being allegedly transported there by the CIA six years ago, over his suspected involvement in a series of terrorist attacks in London.

A post on Syrian opposition website Sooryoon.net, cited by U.K. newspaper The Telegraph, reported that the “timing of his release raises a lot of questions and observers believe the release may indicate the regime is stopping security co-operation with the Americans and thus releasing all those Washington considers a threat to its interests.”

Al-Suri’s name surfaced following the 2005 attacks. Described by The Independent as chief of al-Qaida’s European operations, he was thought to have masterminded the July 2005 bombings, in which four suicide bombers killed 52 commuters on three London subway trains and a bus.

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