By Dan Ephron, Globe Correspondent | July 17, 2005

CAIRO -- The possible involvement of an Egyptian national in the London bombings has presented Cairo with a dilemma over how closely to cooperate in the investigation at the expense of its own laws and security practices.

On Britain's request, authorities have for three days been interrogating 33-year-old Magdy el-Nashar, a biochemist who completed his doctorate in Leeds, England, earlier this year. Media reports in London say police found traces of explosives in the bathtub of Nashar's Leeds apartment and suggested he might have known one of the bombers.

An Egyptian security official said yesterday that Cairo was not prepared to hand over the suspect to Britain, while human rights lawyers said his liberties were already being violated.

The security official told the Associated Press that interrogating Nashar was a matter "of sovereignty" and would take place on Egyptian soil. He said there was not enough evidence yet to conclude whether Nashar had played a role in the July 7 attacks in London.

In Britain, Commissioner Ian Blair of the Metropolitan Police has said he wants Nashar brought to London.

Egyptian police arrested Nashar Thursday outside a mosque near his parents' home in Bassateen, a lower-middle-class neighborhood in Cairo. He has had no contact with family members or lawyers since the arrest, and the site of his incarceration was being kept a secret, relatives said. They said Nashar had not been involved with radical Islamic groups.

Egyptian media reports said British officers had arrived in Cairo to participate in the investigation, though it was not clear whether they were interrogating the suspect.

Public comments by Egyptian officials have mainly cast doubt over Nashar's involvement in the attacks. Interior Minister Habib el-Adly, in remarks published yesterday, said the suspect had no connection with Al Qaeda, which British authorities believe is behind the bombings. He said making such a connection was a "hasty conclusion."

A statement issued by the Interior Ministry Friday focused on what the suspect had told investigators in professing his innocence. It said Nashar had arrived in Egypt days before the bombings for a six-week vacation. He traveled on a round-trip air ticket and left his belongings in his Leeds apartment, the statement quoted Nashar as saying.

Attorney Amir Salem, who heads the National Association for Human Rights and Development in Egypt, announced Friday he was ready to represent Nashar in legal proceedings. He said that under Egypt's criminal procedures law, Nashar should have been brought to a judge for a remand hearing by yesterday, 48 hours after his arrest.

"We have a criminal procedures law that states clearly what can and cannot be done," said Salem, who has handled other high-profile cases in which the government's interrogation procedures are an issue. "For instance, foreign security people are not allowed to question him, only Egyptian police," he said, adding authorities also were obliged to disclose where suspects are held.

Nashar completed undergraduate and graduate degrees in the sciences in Cairo and spent a semester at North Carolina State University before moving to Leeds for his doctoral studies. He has lived there for the past five years.

An undated family photo made available Saturday July 16, 2005, showing Egyptian biochemist Magdy Mahmoud el-Nashar, who was being sought in the probe into the London bombings. An Egyptian government official said el-Nashar was taken into custody in Cairo after the July 7 London blasts and before Wednesday. U.S., British and Egyptian officials had been in contact over el-Nashar following the attacks, the official said. An official at the Egyptian Interior Ministry said el-Nashar came to Egypt from London on vacation and had intended to go back to Britain to continue his studies. "El-Nashar denied having any role in the latest events in London. He pointed out (to questioners) that all his belongings remained in his apartment in Britain," the ministry said. (AP Photo)

LEEDS, England -- Worshippers at a mosque Saturday described the Egyptian biochemist detained in Cairo in connection with the London suicide bombings as a compassionate man incapable of harming anyone.

The Grand Mosque where Magdy Mahmoud Mustafa el-Nashar prayed is across the street from the apartment building where he lived until a week before the July 7 attacks.

Police maintained a cordon of blue and white tape around the brown-brick building as they continued searching his apartment in the Hyde Park neighborhood of the northern city of Leeds, where British media reported that police had found evidence of explosives inside a bathtub.

But El-Nashar's co-worshippers said they were certain he eventually would be vindicated.

"I'm certain Magdy was not involved in terrorism in any way," said Fat'hi Salameh, 44, a Palestinian who emigrated here 13 years ago.

"He's very polite. He's academic. He committed all his time to his research," said Salameh, speaking during a peace march in Hyde Park following the London attacks.

Salameh's 11-year-old son, Suhayb, spent a great deal of time with el-Nashar when he attended religious studies during the summer holidays. He considered him his "best adult friend."

"He made me laugh, told me a lot of jokes," said Suhayb. "I personally think he's innocent. I believe it when he says so."

During interrogation, el-Nashar, 33, who was arrested in Cairo on Thursday, denied any role in the attacks and said he was planning to return to Leeds after a vacation in Egypt, the Egyptian Interior Ministry said in a statement.

An Egyptian security official, speaking on condition of anonymity because a final decision has not yet been made, said there was still not enough evidence to link el-Nashar to the attacks.

Zahir Birawi, chairman of the mosque, said it wouldn't comment on people who pray there.

"We are cooperating with the police," he said.

Birawi said that in the aftermath of the attacks carried out by at least four British Muslims - three of Pakistani descent, the fourth born in Jamaica - the mosque will need to educate the community that "we are part of the society ... and that we have common values.

"We will convey the message of peace to everyone. We have to integrate in the community. We will tell our community to keep calm, not to react emotionally against any hate crimes," said Birawi, who is of Jordanian origin.

Meanwhile Saturday, hundreds of English, Arabs and Asians marched in the streets of Hyde Park, calling for harmony in their multiethnic community of about 30,000.

Chanting, "Peace, Unity - in our community," residents marched down the narrow streets.