Hussain Osman, one of the five key suspects from the failed July 21 bomb attacks on London, is reported today to have told Scotland Yard detectives that explosives and nails in his backpack were intended to scare, not kill.

Metropolitan Police were finally able to put questions to Ethiopian-born Mr Osman, 27, today at the high-security Regina Coeli prison in Rome, where he is fighting a British application for his extradition.

The interview, which lasted for two hours, was closed to the media, with questions channelled through an Italian judge, but his lawyer Antonietta Sonnessa gave a brief statement following its conclusion this afternoon.

Summarising his replies, Ms Sonnessa said: "There were a few nails, but the explosives were not meant to harm, just to make noise."

She said that Mr Osman, who is accused of attempting to detonate explosives on a train near Shepherd’s Bush in west London, had repeated earlier statements that it was a "demonstrative act", adding that "as far as he knew the contents of the bag were not aimed at harming anyone, including himself".

Mr Osman, born Hamdi Issac, was arrested in a southern suburb of the Italian capital eight days after the co-ordinated series of failed bombings in the capital.

He has previously said that the bag - which he denies having packed - contained only flour and explosives, according to his lawyer. Today he apparently went further, admitting that the rucksack contained explosives made from fertiliser as well as some nails.

Ms Sonnessa said that she was waiting to see an analysis by British authorities investigating the failed attacks of what was in the bag. "I’m waiting for technical material, I would like to see the legal report. It would be good for the objective checks to be brought to the attention of the Italian authorities."

She said her client had also been shown photographs, but did not say what was in these.

British authorities are trying to extradite Mr Osman under a new European arrest warrant.

Richard Owen, correspondent for The Times in Rome, said that under the terms of the international legal process called a letter rogatory Scotland Yard had provided the judge, Domenico Miceli, with a list of questions that they wanted to ask in advance.

Mr Osman claimed asylum in Britain in 1996 under the name Osman and said that he was from Somalia.

He left London on a Eurostar train to Paris using an Ethiopian passport on July 25, four days after the four failed bombings in London, and was arrested in the Rome suburb four days later. He is being held under Italian law accused of "international terrorism" and holding false identity papers.

Scotland Yard has pressed for the chance to question Mr Osman about the attacks, a near-carbon copy of the July 7 bombings on London’s transport system in which 56 people died, including four suicide bombers.

The Metropolitan Police refused to give any further details about the interview.

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