An alleged Islamic bomber has told a court Allah instructed him to put a rucksack on when police came to arrest him

BBC News:

Woolwich Crown Court heard officers almost shot Yassin Omar, who was found standing in a bath wearing what they believed to be a bag of explosives.

But the 26-year-old denied wanting to be killed by police with a Koran on his back in order to become a martyr.

Six men deny conspiracy to murder and conspiracy to cause explosions on London transport on 21 July 2005.

Earlier this week, Mr Omar admitted setting off a device on a Tube train near Warren Street, but says it was carried out in protest at the Iraq war and was not meant to be deadly.

Giving evidence for the fourth day, he was asked if he wanted to die with the Koran on his back.

"That is not the case," he replied.

"If they saw I had a rucksack on me then they would think twice before they shot me, and it worked. Allah answered my supplication," he said.

Mr Omar fled London in a burka following the 21 July attacks and was arrested at a house in Birmingham six days later, the court has heard.

The jury was shown the rucksack he was wearing when he was arrested, which had contained a bucket, mobile phone charger and some Islamic books.

Mr Omar was accused of telling a man he stayed with in Birmingham that his actions on 21 July were a "failed attempted bombing". He denied this.

Stephen Kamlish QC, for co-defendant Manfo Kwaku Asiedu, said: "You said you were worried about the next attempt."

"These stories just keep on getting more fantastic. That never happened," Mr Omar replied.

Mr Kamlish later told the court that the "next one" Mr Omar was referring to was a bomb that had been left in the sideboard at his flat - which Mr Asiedu claims to have dismantled.

Mr Omar, of New Southgate, north London, is charged alongside Muktar Said Ibrahim, 29, from Stoke Newington, north London; Ramzi Mohammed, 25, of North Kensington, west London; Hussain Osman, 28, of no fixed address; Adel Yahya, 24, of High Road, Tottenham, north London; and Mr Asiedu, 34, of no fixed address.

‘Bomber used burka as disguise’