Australia’s news.com.au reports that British police may have identified the man who planned the London bombings: Bomb mastermind identified. (Hat tip: The Jawa Report.)

POLICE believe they have identified the man who planned the London bombings. It has also emerged that one of his recruits - Edgware Road bomber Mohammed Sadique Khan - was a teaching assistant in a Leeds primary school.

The leader of the terrorist cell is believed to be in his 30s and of Pakistani origin. He arrived at a British port last month and is understood to have left the country the day before four suicide bombers murdered at least 53 people.

Security sources believe he has been involved in previous terrorist operations and has links with al-Qa’ida followers in the US. It is believed he visited the bombers in Leeds and identified targets. Security chiefs say he is also likely to have schooled his recruits on how to trigger their rucksack bombs almost simultaneously.

Detectives were yesterday trying to track down two other possible members of the cell.

The first was seen on closed-circuit TV cameras on the platform of Luton station as the bombers set off on July 7. There are fears the man, also believed to be of Pakistani origin, could be a fifth bomber, still at large.

Police are trying to discover if he was in Luton, where explosives were found in the boot of a hire car. Fingerprint and DNA experts are still examining the Nissan Micra.

Security sources said there may well be “sixth and a seventh” members of the cell, providing a support network for the bombers.

Scotland Yard also wants to trace an Egyptian-born university lecturer, identified in The Sun newspaper as Magdi el-Nashar, who was at Leeds University teaching and studying for a doctorate in biochemistry. He is understood to have rented one of the houses raided by police, where explosives were found in a bathtub. Nashar is understood to have disappeared just before the bombings.