Western intelligence sources tell NBC News that three of the suspects in the London bombing plot, including one of the suspected bombers, have U.S. connections. These sources also say authorities are now back to believing that the explosive material was homemade — similar to that found in the shoe of the “shoe bomber” Richard Reid.
Police sources say an apartment in a Leeds building served as the bomb making factory and that the suspected bomb maker is Egyptian born biochemist Magdy el-Nashar, who may have made the explosives in the bathtub.
Nashar has a U.S. connection. He studied for five months at North Carolina State University in 2000. More recently, he's been a student and lecturer at Leeds University, where he received a doctorate in May. Authorities say Nashar is believed to have left Britain just before the attacks.
Intelligence sources say also being sought Thursday is a British-born Pakistani with alleged al-Qaida connections. Authorities say he too has visited the U.S. and is believed to have arrived in Britain just not long before the attacks by ferry.
The third U.S. connection is a suspected bomber — Jermaine Maurice Lindsay. Sources say his mother lived in the Cleveland area and that he visited her several times.
The fact that these individuals appear interrelated and may have contacts with each other provides yet another reason to consider data mining programs. These terrorists operate in a very small radius - they interact with the same groups of people and operate in a close knit community. The data mining techniques might discern additional patterns and links that should be investigated.
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