Finchley and Golders Green MP Rudi Vis will not be supporting a campaign to reopen the case of Samar Alami and Jawad Botmeh jailed in 1996 for bombing North Finchley.

Mr Vis said he remained neutral' about the case, in which the duo were jailed for 20 years for bombing the Israeli Embassy in Kensington and Balfour House, North Finchley, in 1994.

Labour MP John Austin has collected 27 signatures from other MPs for an Early Day Motion (EDM) in a bid to restart the investigation.

But Mr Vis said: "To do an Early Day Motion when people just half-read the thing and know nothing about the matter and just sign it because a friend asks them to that is not the process for a judicial review of anything."

In November last year, Alami and Botmeh had their hopes of freedom dashed at the Court of Appeal despite vital evidence linking a named terrorist organisation to the attacks.

July 10, 2002 16:00