10:57am UK, Friday July 29, 2005

A British man thought to be the possible mastermind of the London bombings has been detained in Zambia.

180 LTerror Bus bomb showing taxi and police tape

The aftermath of the bomb attack on the No.30 bus

Haroon Rashid Aswat, who grew up in West Yorkshire, was reportedly arrested last week.

The 30-year-old is believed to have been in close contact with the four suicide bombers in the days before the July 7 attacks.

The Daily Mail said police believe Aswat made 20 calls from his mobile phone to two of the four suicide bombers in late June.

He allegedly visited Leeds, where three of the bombers lived.

He had also reportedly been in London for two weeks before the attack and had apparently fled just hours before the explosions.

The Los Angeles Times said British security services had flown to Zambia, in southern Africa, to question Aswat.

The Foreign Office confirmed it was seeking consular access to a British national reported to be in custody in Zambia.

"We haven't yet seen the man in question and until we do we will be unable to confirm his identity," a spokesman said.

But Scotland Yard has tried to play down the arrest, saying: "It's all speculation and not something that we will discuss at the moment."