LONDON, 24 September 2005 — Terrorism jitters returned to Britain yesterday as sections of Manchester Airport, the second largest airport in the UK, were evacuated after a man with a suitcase, believed to be of Asian origin, managed to breach the security fence and ran toward an area where a number of planes were parked. He was subsequently challenged and nabbed through the use of a Taser gun on the apron near Terminal 2. The incident caused chaos at the airport.

Bomb disposal experts were called in to examine the suspect’s suitcase which he had abandoned at the scene. It later turned out to be harmless containing clothing and personal belongings.

Steve Thomas, assistant chief constable of the Greater Manchester Police, said that “the security was successfully dealt with in this incident, which was contained very quickly. The man got nowhere near a plane. The nearest plane was about 60 meters away. It appeared that the airport security system functioned as it was supposed to. The airport security staff behaved and carried out their duties exactly as they were trained to do.”

ACC Thomas, who refused to reveal the nationality or the ethnic origin of the man, said that the suspect was being medically examined to find out whether he was suffering from any mental illness.

Police initially feared he might have been a suicide bomber and called the army bomb disposal squad. They defended the use of the Taser gun because the man “struggled violently” and they were not sure whether he carried any explosive device.

Meanwhile, a key suspect in the July 21 botched suicide attack, 27-year-old Hussain Osman was remanded in custody yesterday by District Judge Timothy Workman in southeast London. He will face trial at the Old Bailey on Dec. 8 with his alleged co-conspirators.

Osman, who was extradited to the UK from Italy under the European Arrest Warrant on Thursday to face terrorism charges, was refused bail.

He listened impassively from the glass-screened dock flanked by four burley prison guards as a court official read out seven charges against him. These included conspiracy to murder passengers on the London underground system; attempted murder of these passengers. Another four other charges were under the Explosive Substances Act: That he conspired with others to cause an explosion likely to endanger life or cause serious injury to property; that he unlawfully and maliciously made or had in his possession explosives with intent to endanger life; that he unlawfully made an explosive substance; and that he was in possession of an explosive substance for unlawful reasons; and a seventh offence under the Terrorism Act 2000 that Osman was in possession of explosives “for a purpose connected with the commission, preparation or instigation of an act of terrorism”. He did not enter a plea to any of the charges.

He had been held in a Rome prison since his arrest in Italy a week after the failed bombings in London.

He had fled to Italy on the Eurostar train via France where he met with two of his brothers who live in Rome. An Italian court approved his extradition under the European Arrest Warrant. He subsequently appealed against the extradition, but the Court of Cessation in Rome dismissed the appeal.

Osman’s hearing coincided with the conviction and sentencing to 15 years of a Muslim convert, Andrew Rowe, at the Old Bailey for suspected terrorist offences including aiding and abetting a potential terrorist act.

British anti-terrorism officials described Rowe as an “international warrior” who fought in the Balkans, and said they were probing his links with other militants.

Rowe, a married man and father of four, was picked up in Calais on the French side of the Channel Tunnel as he returned home to London on board a coach from Germany in October 2003.

As a known militant suspect, he had been under surveillance by British police for some time.