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UPDATE: 05/24/08: Two More Arrested

Two men sitting outside a cafe with a baby in a pushchair were arrested by armed police today in connection with the Exeter restaurant bombing.

Around seven armed police were seen pointing their guns at the Asian looking men as they sat at a table in a busy high street in Plymouth, the home town of bomb suspect Nicky Reilly.

Marie Cole, 26, who works in a travel agents in Old Town Street, next door to where the men were arrested, said: “I was on the telephone and saw all these people running away from the restaurant past our window.

“I got off very quickly and went to have a look at what was going on. There were about six or seven policemen pointing their guns at two men who were sitting down.
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“They had a pushchair with them but looked quite calm. The police were shouting ‘don’t move, don’t move’. They also had two police dogs.

“The two men were wearing casual clothes with coats on. The police then came in and told us to get out of the shop.”

Another eyewitness, Rebecca Pope, 25, said she was looking out of a window above the Bagatelle Cafe when she heard shouting.

She said armed police pointed weapons at the men, who were sitting at a table outside the cafe with a child in a pushchair.

“Everyone was screaming,” said Ms Pope.

She said both of the men were searched and put into paper suits before being placed in unmarked cars.

Source

Original Post: A man arrested after an explosion at an Exeter restaurant has “a history of mental illness” and was a recent convert to Islam, police have said.

Nicky Reilly, 22, from Plymouth, suffered serious facial injuries when a device detonated at the Princesshay shopping centre in the city.

He is now in police custody in hospital and officers have also searched an address linked to him in Plymouth.

Anti-terror police and security services are assisting the inquiry.

Mr Reilly was arrested after the explosion at 1250 BST on Thursday in the Giraffe restaurant in the £230m shopping development, which is one of Exeter’s main attractions.

CCTV footage taken from a nearby camera appears to show him emerging from the cafe with blood pouring down his face before his arrest.

No-one else was hurt in the explosion at the restaurant, which was busy at the time and is popular with families.

Another device, which did not go off, was found outside the premises.

After the incident, officers evacuated the city’s bus station - which is about half a mile away - and extended an exclusion cordon 100 metres around the scene. However, police have now re-opened the city centre though Giraffe remains closed.

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