Fifth London Bombing Suspect Still at Large
By BRIAN ROSS
July 13, 2005 -- The potential ringleader of the four suicide bombers in last week's attack on London's transit system is alive and still at large.
Authorities tell ABC News they know the identity of the fifth suspect in the London bombings. Video surveillance tapes from the Luton train station, located outside of London, show him seeing the four bombers off the morning of the attack. Although his name has not been released to the public, police sources describe him as having dark skin.
"It is quite obvious that this cell consisted of several other individuals," explained M.J. Gohel, a terrorism analyst at the Asia-Pacific Foundation. "The important thing to establish is how many other associates are there. How big is this cell? And is it likely to perpetrate another atrocity?"
Today police focused their investigation on the middle-class, largely Pakistani neighborhoods in Leeds, where the young bombers lived. British newspapers have dubbed them the suicide bombers of suburbia.
Shehzad Tanweer, 22, whose bomb exploded at the Aldgate station, was best known by his neighbors for his love of playing cricket. Bashir Ahmad, Tanweer's uncle, recalled that his nephew had recently returned from religious training in Pakistan and credited that training with a change in his nephew.
"It wasn't him," Ahmad claimed. "It must have been forces behind him."
Hasib Hussain, 19, who carried the bomb onto the double-decker bus, lived in the Holbeck suburb of Leeds with his parents, who had reported him missing last week. They were apparently unaware that his trip to London with friends was a suicide bombing mission.
"He were a good pillar to the community," recalled Paula Baker, a neighbor of Hussain. "I can't say nothing else because he was."
Mohammed Sadique Khan, 30, who carried the Edgware Road subway bomb, left behind a wife and an infant daughter. Leaders from a local mosque said he and some of the others practiced martial arts in the basement of the mosque.
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HUNDREDS OF AL QAEDA SYMPATHIZERS MAY POSE SLEEPER CELL THREAT
WASHINGTON, July 13, 2005 — ABC News has learned that there are hundreds of people in the United States with suspected ties to al Qaeda and whom the government fears could become part of terrorist sleeper cells in this country.
British investigators say the suspected suicide bombers responsible for last week's terror attacks in London behaved like a classic sleeper cell, raising concerns that more such attacks might be possible. Since the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, the U.S. government has already arrested and jailed extremists who were believed to be involved in planning attacks.
"We've had sleeper cell cases," said Homeland Secretary Michael Chertoff. "We've often arrested people or brought those cases down early in the process. If you wait until people are doing operational planning, you are waiting too long."
In March, the FBI had identified more than 1,000 people suspected of being al Qaeda sympathizers in the United States, according to documents obtained by ABC News. At any given time, government sources say, the FBI has about 300 Islamist extremists who are under investigation or surveillance.
The government is trying to develop informants in certain mosques where they suspect there are radicals and is tailing or electronically eavesdropping on suspected extremists.
Tools of Terror Are Within Reach
For those willing to carry out attacks, there are plenty of explosives readily available.
From 2001 to 2004, more than 16,000 pounds of high explosives were stolen from construction sites and demolition companies, according to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.
Equally as alarming, more than 60,000 pounds of blasting agents like ammonium nitrate — the same chemical used in the Oklahoma City bombing — were stolen, as well.
One of the explosive materials preferred by terrorists around the world is a homemade concoction called TATP. An ABC News team today bought three of the primary chemicals used to make TATP at local hardware and drug stores.
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