LONDON: Three suspects behind a failed copycat bombing in London last month were remanded in custody on Monday. Mukhtar Said Ibrahim, 27, Ramzi Mohammed, 23, and Yassin Hassan Omar, 24, have been charged with attempted murder, conspiracy to murder and possession of explosives over the would-be attacks on July 21.

The attempted bombings — in which explosives in rucksacks failed to go off — came two weeks to the day after July 7 attacks on three Underground subway trains and a double-decker bus that killed 56 people, including four suicide bombers, in London’s worst-ever terrorist atrocity.

The suspects appeared before judge Timothy Workman from the Bow Street magistrate’s court in central London at a special sitting at Belmarsh high-security prison in the southeast of the capital.

Security was tight, with armed police taking up positions outside the court and sniffer dogs leaping into cars in search of possible explosives. Even plastic coffee cups were screened.—AFP