British Police Continue to Quiz Terror Suspect
Saturday October 27 9:19 AM ET
LONDON (Reuters) - British police said on Saturday they had been given a further extension of time to question a man held on suspicion of terrorism-related activities.

``We applied to magistrates for an extension this morning and were granted it,'' a police spokesman told Reuters. ``The extension will last until 6:50 a.m. (2:50 a.m. EDT) on Tuesday, which is the maximum seven days allowed under the Terrorism Act.''

Egyptian Yasser el-Serri was arrested in London on October 23. He is on the run from a death sentence by an Egyptian military court for his alleged involvement in an assassination attempt against then prime minister Atef Sedki in 1993, a charge he denies.

A police spokesman said at the time of his arrest that it was not connected to the September 11 attacks on the United States.

A London-based Islamist source close to Serri said on Tuesday the arrest was likely to be in connection with the assassination of Ahmad Shah Masood, the former leader of the Northern Alliance in Afghanistan, in September.

Since coming to London several years ago, Serri has run the Islamic Observation Centre pressure group which has close ties to Muslim extremists in several countries.

Since last month's attacks on New York and Washington, London police have arrested five people under the Terrorism Act 2000, which makes it a crime to assist, support or participate in an act of terrorism in Britain or abroad. As of Thursday two had been released.