Suicide bomber and accomplice 'were British'

The suicide bomber who killed three people in a Tel Aviv café on Tuesday, and his accomplice, were British citizens, Israeli police said yesterday. If the dead man's identity is confirmed, British anti-terrorist sources believe he would be the UK's first suicide bomber.

The Israeli media named the bomber last night as Asif Mohammed Hanif, 21, and the man on the run as Omar Khan Sharif. Television stations showed their passports, which gave Mr Sharif's place of birth as Derby and age as 27.

Worshippers at a mosque in Hounslow, west London, said last night that Mr Hanif had been a member of the community there. A man who declined to be named said Mr Hanif had attended the mosque almost every day until a few weeks ago. "He would always be standing outside handing out leaflets about the Israel-Palestine situation. He was always raising money for charity for the Palestinians. He would always talk about the situation in Palestine but he was a gentle person. He never seemed to be saying he wanted to kill people. He would talk in much more political terms about how Muslim people should form a lobby and how we should teach young people about the importance of Jerusalem to Muslims.

An Israeli police spokesman said the two men entered Israel from the Gaza Strip. "One blew himself up ... and the other failed to set off his load and managed to escape after scuffling with onlookers and dumping the bomb," he said. The accomplice is now on the run in Israel, he added.

MI5 and Scotland Yard's anti-terrorist squad were investigating links between the dead bomber and an extremist Palestinian group. He is not believed to be connected to al-Qa'ida. If the two men are confirmed as British, the Israeli government will delight in using them to hit back at Tony Blair. Relations between Britain and Israel are at their worst for years, with Ariel Sharon's government furious at what it sees as "meddling" by Mr Blair. The Israelis blame him for pressuring George Bush into yesterday's release of the "road-map" peace plan.