NW connection

London Attack Suspect Is Also Sought by US.

WASHINGTON — A key suspect in the July 7 transit bombings in London has long been wanted by U.S. authorities for prosecution in this country, particularly after federal officials developed evidence three years ago that he was trying to help establish a terrorist training camp on the West Coast to wage war against Americans.

But federal investigators said they did not locate Haroon Rashid Aswat, a British Muslim of Indian descent, even after they agreed to give his alleged collaborator in Seattle a light prison sentence in the hope that the man would lead them to him.

Justice Department officials in Washington said Sunday that the Seattle man, Earnest James Ujaama, had been extremely helpful in putting together an indictment against another London Muslim, Egyptian cleric Abu Hamza al Masri, but that he had not led them directly to Aswat.

Had they found Aswat, officials conceded, it might have prevented the deadly London attacks on three subway trains and a bus that killed 52 people, plus the four suicide bombers. Investigators in Britain believe that Aswat had perhaps as many as 20 cellphone conversations with some of the London suicide bombers.