Sri Lanka suicide bomber who studied in UK named as Abdul Lathief Jameel Mohamed

One of the suicide bombers behind the Sri Lanka suicide attacks was former UK student Abdul Lathief Jameel Mohamed, according to security sources.

Mohamed is believed to have studied in the southeast of England at some point between 2006 and 2007 - and later did a postgraduate course in Australia, before returning to settle in Sri Lanka.

The terrorist was one of nine who carried out a series of blasts targeting churches and hotels in the country, killing 359 people - including eight Britons - and injuring more than 500.

During an earlier news conference on Wednesday, deputy defence minister Ruwan Wijewardene said all nine of the bombers - eight of whom have been identified - were well educated and from wealthy families.

One of the them was a woman, who killed herself as police raided her home, and another - who targeted the Shangri-La hotel - has been identified as factory owner Insan Seelavan.

The woman, thought to be the wife of one of the bombers, blew herself up at the home of her father-in-law, who has been taken into custody.

It is reported that his two sons were also bombers.

Police have so far made 60 arrests, all of whom are Sri Lankan nationals, and 32 people remain in custody.

Tensions across the country remain high, with police carrying out a controlled explosion of a suspicious motorbike in the capital city of Colombo earlier on Wednesday.

On Tuesday , the Sri Lankan prime minister admitted intelligence agencies had information that could have stopped the attacks if it had been passed on correctly.

Police have been investigating whether warnings of the attacks were ignored or missed, and Ranil Wickremesinghe confirmed there was a "breakdown of communication".

The prime minister added: "Some of the suspects are on the run.

"Some of those suspects are armed and dangerous. There are still explosives and militants out there and the police are looking for them."

The leader of the Sri Lankan parliament, Lakshman Kiriella, has claimed that senior officials deliberately withheld intelligence about the potential for attacks.

He said: "Some top intelligence officials hid the intelligence information purposefully.

"Information was there, but the top brass security officials did not take appropriate actions. Somebody is controlling these top intelligence officials. The security council is doing politics. We need to investigate into this."

British intelligence and the FBI are among the foreign allies providing assistance to the investigation into who carried out the attacks, with Islamic State having claimed - without evidence - that its "fighters" were responsible.

Footage has emerged of several masked bombers appearing to be preparing for their suicidal mission and pledging their allegiance to IS leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi.

One of the men in the video, seen with his face uncovered, is Sri Lankan Islamist hate preacher Zahran Hashim.

The Sri Lankan defence ministry has said it believes two domestic Islamist organisations are responsible for the attacks, although their suggestion that it was "retaliation" for the Christchurch mosque shootings has been played down by the office of New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.

It said on Tuesday it had not "seen any intelligence upon which such an assessment might be based".

British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt has sent specialists from the Metropolitan Police to help in Sri Lanka - and they will also be tasked with efforts to repatriate deceased UK nationals .

Among them are teenage siblings Daniel and Amelie Linsey, former firefighter Bill Harrop and partner Sally Bradley, lawyer Anita Nicholson and her children Alex, 14, and Annabel, 11.

In total, the bombing victims include more than 30 foreigners from at least 12 countries, including three children of Danish billionaire and ASOS shareholder Anders Holch Povlsen.