By John Steele
(Filed: 15/07/2005)
Police investigating the London bombings appealed last night for information that could fill in the missing 81 minutes in the suicide mission of Hasib Hussain, who killed himself and 12 other passengers on a bus in central London.
Hussain, at 18 the youngest of the four men who carried out western Europe's first suicide bombings, arrived with the others at King's Cross in central London at around 8.26am on July 7.
His bomb - like the other devices made of up to 10lb of high explosive - detonated on the No 30 bus, which was travelling from Marble Arch bound for Hackney, at 9.47am.
Scotland Yard's anti-terrorist squad is trying to establish his movements in the intervening 81 minutes, which remain a central mystery.
Hussain's fellow bombers fanned out east, west and south from King's Cross and their bombs exploded within moments of each other at around 8.50am.
One theory is that Hussain's target was in a northern direction, possibly on the Bank branch of the Northern Line in the direction of Euston and Camden Town, but that he was delayed for some reason and could not get on to the Tube.
Disruption after the other devices exploded may have been to blame, or he may have been caught up in the normal overcrowding at busy stations at the height of the rush hour.
Hussain died on the No 30 bus after, it is believed, setting off his bomb.
However, the possibility cannot be ruled out that he got cold feet, or panicked, and died in an accidental "own goal" blast.
It is not known why or where he boarded the bus, which should have travelled past King's Cross but was diverted - because of chaos caused by the earlier explosions - from its route along Euston Road, into the Woburn Place/Tavistock Square area, where the bomb went off.
Hussain may have left King's Cross station and walked a quarter of a mile or more along Euston Road to join the bus before it was diverted.
Or, finding himself unable to get on to the Northern Line, he could have travelled west on the Circle, Metropolitan or Hammersmith and City lines.
One possibility, which would be consistent with the timings, is that Hussain accompanied Mohammed Sadique Khan, 31, a primary school teacher, on the Circle Line, getting off before Khan's bomb went off near Edgware Road.
Exiting at any of four stations, from King's Cross to Baker Street, Hussain could have joined the No 30 on its route from Marble Arch towards King's Cross.
At a news conference yesterday, Deputy Assistant Commissioner Peter Clarke, the head of Scotland Yard's anti-terrorist squad, released a passport photograph of Hussain - one of two bombers to be formally, publicly identified.
He also released a CCTV image of Hussain carrying his bomb in a bulky rucksack at Luton rail station, timed at around 7.20am on July 7.
Police now know that Hussain and the three other suspected al-Qa'eda-inspired Muslim terrorists travelled from Luton to King's Cross Thameslink station. Mr Clarke appealed for anyone on the bus at any point on its route to contact police if they had not done so already.
Around 80 people were on the double-decker when the bomb went off on the upper deck. He urged anyone with information to call the anti-terrorist hotline on 0800 789 321.
The bus started its journey at Marble Arch at 9am. By 9.05am it was in Gloucester Place and at 9.10am in Marylebone Road. By 9.30am it was in Euston Road, near the junction with Gower Street, heading east. The closure of King's Cross forced a diversion into Tavistock Square.
Mr Clarke told a news conference his officers had taken 500 witness statements and had seized and were analysing more than 5,000 CCTV tapes - a number that would rise dramatically, he predicted.
"The detailed forensic examination of the scenes of the attacks continues," he said. "Many vital clues have already emerged.
"We are also conducting detailed searches at premises in West Yorkshire and in Aylesbury, Bucks."
Mr Clarke suggested that it could take "many months of intensive, detailed investigation" to answer the key questions raised by the bombings: "Who actually committed the attack? Who supported them? Who financed them? Who trained them? Who encouraged them?"
Senior detectives believe that if the attacks were the work of al-Qa'eda-linked terrorists, it is likely that an experienced organiser, possibly supplying explosives, would have travelled to Britain to prepare the men, who then escaped before the atrocity.
However, they distanced themselves from reports that they had identified the movements of such a "mastermind".
Mr Clarke said police would only officially release information when they were entirely sure it was accurate. This could mean, he said, that some information appeared in the media before police could confirm it.
Identifications were a case in point, he said, where police were only releasing names of the dead once the coroner, Dr Paul Knapman, had accepted conclusive evidence.
Forensic proof could come in the form of dental records, fingerprints or DNA.
Mr Clarke officially released the names yesterday of Hussain and Shehzad Tanweer, who died in the Circle Line blast near Liverpool Street. However, both men were named earlier in the week by the media.
Khan's property was found at both Edgware Road and Liverpool Street and his name has been publicised, but Mr Clarke said police did not yet have forensic evidence to confirm that he died in the explosions.
Police believe they know the identity of the Piccadilly Line bomber, based on forensic evidence that made it "very likely" that he died in the blast, but formal identification still awaited a decision by the coroner.
The liberal lies and misinformation are starting to come home to roost.