THE SHOCKED Hounslow family of the man named as the suicide bomber that killed three innocent Israelis in a pub and injured a further 35 on Wednesday evening have said he was a harmless teddy bear''.

21-year-old Asif Mohammed Hanif, a former student of Cranford Community College, had often been seen handing out leaflets urging Muslims to donate to the Palestinian cause, according to the Muslim council, and had been a worshipper at Hounslow's Jamia Masjid and Islamic Centre on Wellington Road South, but had left the country to attend Syria's Damascus University to study Arabic.

However, he wasn't the sort of person that was into that kind of thing,'' according to his brother Taz, who lives at the family's terraced home in Lela Avenue.

He and the rest of Asif's family were notified by a friend when Hanif was named by television reports as being involved in the bombing:

When I saw it, I went pale with shock. I couldn't believe it - I thought this is a wind-up, that it can't be happening. What do you achieve by killing yourself and other people.''

Yanai Weiss, 46, Domininque Hess, 29 and Ran Baron, 24, were all killed in the attack when the pub bomber detonated a device packed with shrapnel at around 1am on Wednesday, April 30th - after being refused entry by the club's doorman.

Taz had spoken to his brother just two weeks before the attack when he said that Asif appeared to be fine'', and was planning to return after finishing his studies to teach children in London.

I can't believe that he did. He was just a big teddy bear - we used to watch the news and our parents said the suicide stuff is not good. Anyone who knew him would tell you.''

May 1, 2003 15:30