Posted on 07/09/2005 9:39:29 AM PDT by Paleo Conservative
Two forensics officers take a break in front of the bomb wrecked double decker bus at London's Tavistock Square, Saturday, July 9, 2005, two day ago in a series of explosions in London, on the underground trains and a double decker bus. (AP Photo/Sang Tan)
LONDON (AP) - Three bombs containing sophisticated explosives hit the London Underground within less than a minute of each other, police said Saturday as a clearer picture emerged of the coordinated attacks last week that killed at least 49 people.
The bombs on the subway went off within a span of 50 seconds Thursday, suggesting detonation by synchronized timers rather than suicide bombers, police said, revising earlier accounts that the blasts occurred within a 26-minute span. An explosion tore through a double-decker bus nearly an hour later.
The explosions were so destructive that authorities haven't been able to identify a single body and were depending on fingerprints, dental records and DNA analysis, detectives said Saturday.
More bodies remain trapped underground, police said. Recovery crews were hampered by heat, dust and other "difficult conditions," Deputy Commissioner Andy Trotter of British Transport Police said.
People view the floral tributes left outside Kings Cross Station in London, Saturday July 9, 2005, as they pay their respects following Thursdays bombings. King's Cross station is near the site of the deadliest of the three subway bombings, where at least 21 people were killed. Britain's Prime Minister Tony Blair said Saturday that links to al-Qaida were likely, but it was not yet clear who was behind the devastating blasts that shook London and killed at least 49 people. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)
Sir Ian Blair, commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, said he expected the toll to rise but doubted it would reach triple digits. Many of the Underground tunnels are more than 100 feet beneath the surface.
Sophisticated coordination is a hallmark of al-Qaida, the terror network blamed for the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States and said by British officials to have possibly been behind the London blasts.
"A slightly different picture is emerging around the timing of these bomb incidents," Deputy Assistant Commission Brian Paddick said at a Metropolitan Police briefing on Thursday's bombings. "All three bombs on the London Underground system actually exploded within seconds of each other, at 8:50 in the morning."
The first bomb exploded at the Aldgate station in east London. Two more went off within seconds, they said.
Police said the bombs were composed of "high explosive" - probably not homemade material. Investigators said Friday that the bombs were lighter than 10 pounds each and could be carried in a backpack.
A police officer places flowers on a makeshift memorial at Kings Cross Station in London, Saturday July 9, 2005, following Thursdays bombings. King's Cross station is near the site of the deadliest of the three subway bombings, where at least 21 people were killed. Britain's Prime Minister Tony Blair said Saturday that links to al-Qaida were likely, but it was not yet clear who was behind the devastating blasts that shook London and killed at least 49 people. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)
A fourth destroyed a bus near a subway entrance, killing 13 people, police said. The attacks came as President Bush and other G-8 leaders were holding a summit in Scotland and a day after London was named the host city for the 2012 Olympics.
Forty-nine bodies have been recovered from the bombings but were so mangled that detectives have not been able to identify a single body.
"It is a very harrowing task," police Detective Superintendent Jim Dickie said. "Most of the victims have suffered intensive trauma, and by that I mean there are body parts as well as torsos."
More than 700 people from several countries, including the United States, were wounded.
In a British Broadcasting Corp. radio interview Saturday, Prime Minister Tony Blair said investigators did not yet know who was behind the attacks but hoped to have more information soon.
Police officers stand by the floral tributes left outside Kings Cross Station in London, Saturday July 9, 2005, as people pay their respects following Thursdays bombings. King's Cross station is near the site of the deadliest of the three subway bombings, where at least 21 people were killed. Britain's Prime Minister Tony Blair said Saturday that links to al-Qaida were likely, but it was not yet clear who was behind the devastating blasts that shook London and killed at least 49 people. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)
He said he was aware of a claim of responsibility posted on the Internet by a group calling itself The Secret Organization of al-Qaida in Europe. He said it was "reasonably obvious that it comes from that type of quarter" but not yet clear exactly which organization was responsible.
Little was known about the group, but a Web statement in the same name claimed responsibility for the last major terror attack in Europe: the bombs on commuter trains in Madrid in March 2004 that killed 191 people.
A second claim appeared on a Web site Saturday, this one signed Abu Hafs al-Masri Brigades. The group, whose name evokes the alias of Mohammed Atef, Osama bin Laden's top deputy who was killed in a U.S. airstrike in Afghanistan in November 2001. But experts say the group has no proven track record of attacks, and note it has claimed responsibility for events in which it was unlikely to have played any role, such as the 2003 blackouts in the United States and London that resulted from technical problems.
Subway passengers around the capital remained wary on Saturday, a day after most of its lines reopened. Rider volume remained steady but light.
"Everyone's looking around a little bit more," said William Palmer, 23, a student.
At King's Cross station, near the site of the deadliest of the three subway bombings, Underground service was partially restored. Flowers and sympathy cards piled up outside honoring the dead - at least 21 were killed on the train bombed between King's Cross and Russell Square stations.
"Madrid is with London," read one card. Another said: "Everyone has gone to the best place, which is heaven."
In the interview, the prime minister also said it was crucial to address terrorism's underlying causes, which he identified as deprivation, lack of democracy and ongoing conflict in the Middle East and praised the calm way Londoners reacted to the bombings.
His countrymen, he said, "are simply not going to be terrorized by terror in this way."
bump
It was done by Al Qaeda....no doubt in my mind.
The high explosive would explain the damage to the Russell square train..
I was watching CNN after the bombing and the dingbat female reporter was focusing on the notion that the bombs were almost 26 whole minutes apart that "somebody" shoulda done something - - never mind that the bomber SHOULDN'T HAVE blown up innocent people.
Soledad O'Brien....CNN's answer to Fox News...
She even said the people looked like they had "war wounds"....Hello Soledad....it is a war!
The bus was diverted according to a caption on a BBC map. Could that diversion prevented another Underground blast? Did that diversion take the bomber away from the subway entrance?
Kinda like the homemade bombs that tore apart the Murrah buldings reinforced concrete and steel...
Very professional job using very professional munitions..
imo
But I'm informed by some infobabe that these bombs were just crude home made bombs.
If it had been near the entrance it probably would have made escape from the other blasts more difficult.
Al-Queda trained.
Whats the chance on this being one guy?
Zip around in the tube for an hour planting bombs then hang out for an hour before you disintegrate yourself along with a bus load of innocent bystanders?
Especially when precisely this kind of attack has been conducted before.
London Terrorism:] British "Covenant of Security" with Islamists Ends
*******************************************************
An Islamist British group called Al-Muhajiroun - "the immigrants" in Arabic - for some time publicly stated that Britain was immune from Islamist violence because of its acceptable behavior toward Muslims within the country's borders. In an April 2004 conversation, the 24-year-old Sayful Islam, who heads Al-Muhajiroun's Luton branch, announced that he supported Osama Bin Laden "100%" in the quest to achieve "the worldwide domination of Islam," but went on to voice an aversion to himself performing terrorist acts in Britain.
Yet, Mr. Islam endorsed terrorism in Britain in a broader sense "When a bomb attack happens here, I won't be against it, even if it kills my own children. … But it is against Islam for me to engage personally in acts of terrorism in the UK because I live here. According to Islam, I have a covenant of security with the UK, as long as they allow us Muslims to live here in peace." He further explained. "If we want to engage in terrorism, we would have to leave the country. It is against Islam to do otherwise."
Covenant of security? What is that? In an August 2004 story in the New Statesman, "Why terrorists love Britain," Jamie Campbell cited the author of Inside Al Qaeda, Mohamed Sifaoui, as saying, "it has long been recognized by the British Islamists, by the British government and by UK intelligence agencies, that as long as Britain guarantees a degree of freedom to the likes of Hassan Butt [an overtly pro-terrorist Islamist], the terrorist strikes will continue to be planned within the borders of the UK but will not occur here."
The New Statesman story drew from this the perversely ironic conclusion that "the presence of vocal and active Islamist terrorist sympathizers in the U.K. actually makes British people safer, while the full brunt of British-based terrorist plotting is suffered by people in other countries."
A Syrian immigrant to Britain who headed Al-Muhajiroun, Omar Bakri Mohammed, confirmed the covenant of security, describing companions of the Prophet Muhammad who were given protection by the king of Ethiopia. That experience, he told the magazine, led to the Koranic notion of covenant of security: Muslims may not attack the inhabitants of a country where they live in safety. This "makes it unlikely that British-based Muslims will carry out operations in the U.K. itself," Mr. Mohammed said.
One of the first things that went into my old mind was how similiar the Mayors of Portland, Oregon are to the mayor of London.
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