London  - British police late Thursday were questioning a 22- year-old Muslim convert who attempted to set off an explosive device in a busy restaurant in the university town of Exeter in south-west Britain.

Police said that Nicky Reilly was arrested at the Giraffe restaurant, where families were eating, after one of the two devices he had taken into the lavatory partially exploded, injuring his face.

A police spokesman said that Reilly, who has a history of mental illness, had professed the Muslim faith.

"We believe, despite his weak and vulnerable state, he was preyed upon, radicalized and taken advantage of," a police spokesman said. (dpa)