The Egyptian Interior Ministry confirmed Friday that an Egyptian man, wanted by British police for an alleged involvement in the July 7 London bombings, has been arrested.

The ministry said in a statement said Magdy Nashar, a chemistry student, had returned to Egypt for a 45-day vacation and planned to return to Britain to complete his studies.

According to the statement, the suspect denied involvement in the bombings, saying that all his belongings were still at his apartment in Britain.

The suspect is still being interrogated.

Nashar was born on May 27, 1972. He traveled to Britain in 2000 to get a doctorate degree from Leeds University, and he is now a researcher at the National Research Center.

Media reports said Nashar had left Britain two weeks before the blasts on three underground trains and a bus, which killed at least54 and wounded 700.

British newspapers said Nashar had rented a house in the northern English city of Leeds, which was raided by police on Tuesday. Large amounts of suspected explosives were seized.

A spokeswoman for Leeds University said he was doing a doctorate in an environmentally friendly study involving "chemically-inactive substances" with implications for the food industry. He was sponsored in his studies by the Egyptian government.

Media reports said Nashar had studied at North Carolina State University as a graduate student in chemical engineering for a semester beginning in January 2000. FBI agents in Raleigh, North Carolina, joined the search for Nashar.

US, British and Egyptian officials have been in contact over Nashar following the attacks.
 
(Xinhua News Agency July 16, 2005)