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The suspected Al Qaeda suicide bomber arrested by Scotland Yard's anti-terrorist squad had hollowed out shoes to carry explosives, UK police sources say.
They say Sajid Badat, 24, a British Pakistani, wanted to create a shoe bomb similar to the one Richard Reid used to try and blow up a passenger airline en route from Paris to Miami.
Both Badat and Reid are believed to have trained in Khalden camp in Afghanistan, one of 18 training camps established with Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden's blessings.
The revelation follows Thursday's raid on Badat's family home in Gloucester, where some explosives were also found.
Security concerns prompted the police to evacuate neighbouring homes while they were carrying out the raid. A second home in Gloucester was raided on Friday morning.
Meanwhile, Badat is being interrogated at a high security prison in central London as the police try and work out how close he was to Reid, who was jailed for life last January.
A relative commenting on Badat's arrest said, "This has come as a complete shock. He is nothing more than a friendly, sociable, normal young lad who has lots of friends and did not hold extreme views in any way."
His father, a factory worker, has been described as a "caring man".
The son of migrants who came to the UK from Malawi, Badat has been described by friends as bright, hard working and sporty who graduated from the local grammar school with 10 GCSE passes and four 'A' Levels.
After leaving school, Badat opted for a religious education, enrolling for a year at an Islamic college in Blackburn, Lancashire. The college offers a wide range of courses, including the history of Islam and the Koran with opportunities for higher studies.
At the age of 18 Badat left for Pakistan and Afghanistan and spent some time at Khalden camp, south of Kabul, which also hosted Reid and the so-called 19th hijacker involved in the 9/11 attacks, Zacarias Moussawi, who was arrested after his instructors at a US flying school tipped off the authorities.
UK security experts believe Khalden camp was used exclusively for training suicide bombers to be deployed in Europe. Some 20 Algerian bombers thought to be on the loose somewhere in the UK are also believed to have been trained in Khalden.
Their plan, the police have been told, is to blow up synagogues across the UK.
Khalden camp specialised in training its recruits in the use of two explosives -- PETN and TATP. Badat is said to be adept at making use of both types of explosives.
Three British Pakistanis have been involved in suicide attacks.
Bilal Mohammed, 24, from Birmingham, joined the Harakat-ul-Ansar and blew himself up in Srinagar at the end of 2001.
Last year Asif Muhammed Hanif, 22, from Hounslow and Omar Khan Sharif, 27, from Derby died after attempted suicide attacks at a Tel Aviv nightclub in Israel.