Egyptian Prosecutor General Maher Abdel-Wahed has indicated that Egyptian biochemist Magdy El-Nashar, arrested in Cairo over suspected involvement in the London bombings, will not be extradited even if he was charged. He said that the country's constitution bans the extradition of any Egyptian citizen accused of committing crimes abroad to any foreign state, the official MENA news agency reported. Nashar had just arrived in Egypt for a 45-day vacation and planned to return to Britain to complete his studies. (Xinhua, July 16) Egyptian Interior Minister Habib el-Adli told al-Gomhuria newspaper that the foreign media had drawn hasty conclusions about 33-year-old El-Nashar, whose Leeds apartment was raided by police. "Habib el-Adli confirmed that Magdy Elnashar had no connection with al Qaeda," said the newspaper, which did not quote the minister directly. (Reuters, July 16) A computer found at El-Nashar's Leeds home is said to have revealed only downloaded music files. (UK Telegraph, July 17)

A contributor to the TPMCafe blog offers an interesting commentary on the 7-7 attacks:

Muslim Civil War - Second Front

By thibaud

Overlooked by most media outlets (but not by London bloggers) in the Edgware Road and Aldgate bombings is the very interesting fact that all the bombs were set off in or near the most heavily muslim neighborhoods in the UK -- or in western Europe, for that matter. One can see why the bombers avoided Gleneagles; as to logical London targets, one could conceivably argue that Whitehall or Westminster are too tough to penetrate for even the most ingenious death cultist.

But why on earth would muslims set off so many bombs in their own mini-capital, as it were?

The general who "Gitmoized" Abu Ghraib briefed Rumsefled's top aides, it is now revealed—contradicting his own earlier testimony. From the Chicago Tribune July 15 via TruthOut:

General Contradicted Abu Ghraib Testimony
Transcripts reveal he briefed top officials.
Washington - An Army general who has been criticized for his role in the treatment of prisoners at the Guantanamo Bay detention center and Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq has contradicted his sworn congressional testimony about contacts with senior Pentagon officials.

The first apparent example of what Christopher Hitchens called "bloody foolishness" that he hoped Britons would be too civilized for following the London attacks. From Pakistan's Daily Times, July 15:

Pakistani shot dead
LONDON: Pakistani national Kamal Raza Butt was killed in a suspected racial attack in Nottingham, said police on Tuesday. Butt died on Sunday, three days after the London bombings, and the attack was "being investigated as a racially-aggravated incident," said a Nottinghamshire Police, adding that six youths arrested on Monday were in custody and being questioned. Muslim Council of Britain spokesman Inayat Bunglawala linked Butt's death to Thursday's terrorist attacks. Butt (48) had been staying in Nottingham with a friend, said police, adding that he was assaulted shortly after he left a neighbourhood shop.

Al-Jazeera reported July 6 that Sheikh Abu Muhammad al-Maqdisi, spiritual mentor of Iraq's al-Qaeda leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, has been arrested in Jordan, after a brief period of being free under close surveillance. He was freed following his acquittal on terrorism charges, and it is uncertain on what charges he is now being held. Ironically, the arrest comes immediately following an interview with al-Jazeera in which the Sheikh criticized his protege's brutal tactics. "I have reservations on expanding jihadi operations or what others call suicide or istishhadiya [martyrdom]," he said. He was apparently referring to suicide attacks on civilians. Al-Zarqawi did not appreciate the criticism, immediately issuing a communique blasting his mentor. "This [criticism] does not harm me as much as it harms this jihad...the blessings of which are apparent to anyone who has eyes," said the statement posted to an Islamist website and signed by Zarqawi. "Do not follow in the devil's footsteps or you shall perish, and beware, our virtuous sheikh, from the cunning of God's enemies and from being lured into dividing the mujahideen." (The Peninsula, Qatar, July 13)

Just what we needed to hear. The world stands by as massive ethnic cleansing—perhaps genocide—continue in Darfur. Now we are told of a similar crisis in Mauritania, which hasn't even come to the world's atttention. This from Johannesburg's Business Day, July 12, via AllAfrica.com, July 12:

From today's AP:

Police are investigating whether four attackers died in last week's London subway and bus bombings and have arrested one suspect after a series of raids Tuesday in Leeds, a northern city with a strong Muslim community.

From the London Mirror, July 8:

WE CANNOT SURRENDER
States which shelter these killers will know no peace

by Christopher Hitchens

SOMEWHERE around London at about a quarter to nine yesterday morning, there must have been people turning on their TV and radio sets with a look of wolfish expectation.