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The deadly nailbombs meant for London commuters
Times Online UK ^ | July 27, 2005 | Jenny Booth

Posted on 07/27/2005 1:04:51 PM PDT by WmShirerAdmirer

Transcript of ABC TV interview

Shocking new images have emerged of unexploded bombs, some packed around with nails, which were found in a car left behind by the July 7 London bombers.

In total, 16 bombs were found in the red Nissan car parked at Luton railway station. It is is believed the car was rented in Leeds by Shehzad Tanweer, one of the four bombers who killed themselves and 52 others in a co-ordinated attack on three London Underground trains and a bus earlier this month.

The sheer number of devices has raised fears that the scale of the July 7 bomb plot was much larger than originally imagined.

The presence of nailbombs graphically illustrates that the bombing cell wanted to inflict the maximum possible pain, injury and risk of death on innocent London commuters, security analysts say.

"You see what is bulging on the sides of the bottle are nails. Many, many nails," said Robert Ayers, a security expert who was shown the pictures by the American ABC News channel last night.

"And the nails are put there so that when the bomb goes off, the nails will tear tissue and kill people in the area. Bombs don't kill by concussion. Small bombs, they kill by the blast effects of fragments of glass or metal, and this is designed to kill people."

Meanwhile police were continuing to question a man believed to be Yasin Hassan Omar, named by police as one of the would-be terrorists in the attempted second wave of London bombs on July 21. Omar is believed to have been on the run since a bomb failed to detonate on a tube train at Warren St station last Thursday. Three others, whose devices also failed to go off, are also wanted by police.

A witness said that the man arrested this morning in Heybarnes Road, Hay Mills, looked like Omar, 24. The man was felled with a Taser stun gun after a scuffle with police officers who raided a house at 04.30. The BBC reported that the man had been wearing a rucksack as he was arrested, although Scotland Yard could not confirm that report.

Police found a suspect package and more than 100 nearby homes were then evacuated on Army advice as the bomb squad moved in. The suspect was taken to Paddington Green high security police station in Central London for questioning.

Shortly after his arrest, three other men were held in a raid two miles away in Bankdale Road in the Washwood Heath area of Birmingham and are being held by local police. The raids were carried out by 50 officers from the Metropolitan Police Anti-Terrorist Branch and West Midlands Police. No shots were fired.

Meanwhile today Luton airport was closed and flights thrown into disarray as a man was arrested under the Prevention of Terrorism Act as he was about to catch a Ryanair flight to the southern French city of Nimes. It was not clear if this was in connection with the bombings.

Two other men travelling on a train from Newcastle to King's Cross were arrested last night after the train was stopped at Grantham in Lincolnshire. Police said that the arrests, under the Terrorism Act 2000, followed a tip-off from two off-duty Metropolitan Police officers on the train.

Andy Wilkinson, an electrician who lives in Heybarnes Road, Birmingham, said that he saw the suspect being led out in a white forensic suit with his hands bound by plastic ties. He said the suspect looked like Omar but could not confirm that it was him.

Mr Wilkinson, 41, said: "It was about 5.10am and all we could hear was a right racket - people trying to break a door down. I looked out of the window and the road was full of armed police and they had got the road closed off.

"After 10 or 15 minutes they brought a guy out. He looked like the darkest-skinned one in the photos of the four suspects released by the police - the one with the curly hair.

"They had him dressed in one of those white suits. He had plastic cuffs on the front and just after he came out, they brought a woman out and she looked Filipino."

Mr Wilkinson said the maisonette property that was raided had been rented for a long time. He said: "According to the old bloke who lives next door, they come and go and they are not there all the time. It’s almost like it’s a letter drop. You don’t see them for three days at a time."

Bedfordshire Police said that a man was detained at Luton airport as he prepared to take a flight to Nimes. The flight was delayed for several hours while police checked the aircraft and sparked a major security alert at the airport.

Deputy Chief Constable Martin Stuart said: "I would like to reassure everybody that their safety is our priority and apologise for the delay to this flight, but it is important that all calls to the police are thoroughly investigated. Again, we apologise for the inconvenience this has caused."

Today's arrests in Birmingham are thought to be of major significance in the hunt for the bombers. Detectives fear they may still be in possession of explosives after reports that on the day after the failed July 21 attacks they returned to the tower block flat rented by Omar that they had used as a bomb factory in New Southgate, North London.

It is also understood that police have recovered a large amount of chemical compounds from a lock-up near the tower block which could have been used to make home-made explosives. Two other North London premises, in Finchley and Enfield, were raided by Scotland Yard's anti-terrorist branch this morning, although no arrests were made.

The body of the Brazilian man shot dead by police will be flown back to his home country tonight. Jean Charles de Menezes, 27, was shot eight times in the head at Stockwell Station on the London Underground on Friday.

Today his family said in a press conference that the electrician had acted as "training" for the security forces. They said that by shooting dead 27-year-old Jean Charles de Menezes the police had learned the wrong course of action - and were now using stun guns instead.

Alex Pereira, 27, said his cousin’s death had given police a lesson they needed. "They learned, it means that my cousin was training. They killed one person to learn that lesson, I hope they never kill again."

He added: "They would never have learned this if my cousin had not died".


TOPICS: Extended News; News/Current Events; United Kingdom
KEYWORDS: london; londonattacked; nailbombs; terrorist
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"You see what is bulging on the sides of the bottle are nails. Many, many nails," said Robert Ayers, a security expert who was shown the pictures by the American ABC News channel last night.

"And the nails are put there so that when the bomb goes off, the nails will tear tissue and kill people in the area. Bombs don't kill by concussion. Small bombs, they kill by the blast effects of fragments of glass or metal, and this is designed to kill people."

1 posted on 07/27/2005 1:04:51 PM PDT by WmShirerAdmirer
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To: WmShirerAdmirer

I suppose they must now ban nails and bits of metal.


2 posted on 07/27/2005 1:06:13 PM PDT by MeanWestTexan
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To: WmShirerAdmirer

According to the mayor of London, this is all our fault.


3 posted on 07/27/2005 1:06:31 PM PDT by Eric in the Ozarks (Scratch a Liberal. Uncover a Fascist)
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To: WmShirerAdmirer

How Palestinian of them.


4 posted on 07/27/2005 1:07:19 PM PDT by mewzilla (Property must be secured or liberty cannot exist. John Adams)
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To: WmShirerAdmirer
One must alway remember to protect the rights of these bombers when they are caught because we don't want to get them mad... /sarcasm
5 posted on 07/27/2005 1:08:16 PM PDT by Mark was here (My tag line was about to be censored.)
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To: MeanWestTexan

They will initially start with registering all nail purchases. Then they will require a special license to purchase nails. After this fails they will ban nails and everything will have to be glued together.


6 posted on 07/27/2005 1:08:48 PM PDT by Phantom Lord (Fall on to your knees for the Phantom Lord)
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To: Eric in the Ozarks

Ken Livingston aka Red Ken, can kiss my arse!


7 posted on 07/27/2005 1:10:04 PM PDT by Rummyfan
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To: WmShirerAdmirer

Hummm...16 unused bombs left in the Nissan makes one wonder if there were 16 no-shows that morning among the planned terrorists. What a horrendous disaster it would have been if 20 bombs, rather than 4, had been detonated. The Brits better not stop looking for these criminals for a long, long while.


8 posted on 07/27/2005 1:10:16 PM PDT by kittymyrib
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To: Phantom Lord

I want to see pictures of the JDAM "mosque buster" bomb.


9 posted on 07/27/2005 1:10:20 PM PDT by ReadyNow
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To: Southack
"The sheer number of devices has raised fears that the scale of the July 7 bomb plot was much larger than originally imagined."

Hmmm. Wonder why they weren't able to pull off the full scale attack. Maybe they're running out of islamomurderer volunteers.

10 posted on 07/27/2005 1:11:27 PM PDT by Rokke
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To: WmShirerAdmirer

I know where to put this...
11 posted on 07/27/2005 1:14:26 PM PDT by evets (You're welcome.)
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To: WmShirerAdmirer

And there it is...

Seems a pretty small device, more for doing damage to crowds than to trains.

One wonders why they had 16 spare bombs for a one time suicide mission. How many chickend out?

12 posted on 07/27/2005 1:15:56 PM PDT by konaice
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To: Rokke

I suspect the first was not intended to be a suicide attack.

--- the danger of kitchen sink peroxide bombs.


13 posted on 07/27/2005 1:15:59 PM PDT by MeanWestTexan
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To: mewzilla

Not really. The Palestinians used POISONED TIPPED NAILS!


14 posted on 07/27/2005 1:16:34 PM PDT by Ooh-Ah
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To: konaice

Notice that they make sure the pointy ends are all pointed outwards. As if the balistics will ensure they remain pointed at the surrounding passengers.

These muzzies, while barely able to assemble a bomb, are still rock-dumb.


15 posted on 07/27/2005 1:21:51 PM PDT by Uncle Miltie (Islam: Nothing BEER couldn't cure!)
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To: Brad Cloven
Notice that they make sure the pointy ends are all pointed outwards.

I noticed that too, its just crazy. Longer nails taped longitudinally would have done more damage.

Still one has to wonder why there were 16 extra ones . It almost lends credence to the idea they were timer detonated, and the bombers expected to have time to get away and reload, but someone messed up the timers (intentionally or accidentally). Or perhaps there was another group which was supposed to pick those up and go into the subway system, but they were not successfull because the whole system was shut down immediatly.

16 posted on 07/27/2005 1:30:56 PM PDT by konaice
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To: WmShirerAdmirer

From this (former) Londoner to the terrorists:

F*** you.

Regards, Ivan


17 posted on 07/27/2005 1:31:35 PM PDT by MadIvan (You underestimate the power of the Dark Side - http://www.sithorder.com/)
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To: WmShirerAdmirer

ah Bushfault


18 posted on 07/27/2005 1:36:36 PM PDT by Republicus2001
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To: WmShirerAdmirer

And yet so many want to sing kumbayah with terrorists.


19 posted on 07/27/2005 1:40:19 PM PDT by mtbopfuyn (Legality does not dictate morality... Lavin)
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To: mtbopfuyn

And yet so many want to sing kumbayah with terrorists




They are the ones who have no contact with them. Kinda like the limo liberals who live in the suburbs or city "enclaves" and wanta play pattycake with the ones who would blow them away given half the chance.


20 posted on 07/27/2005 1:43:00 PM PDT by eleni121 ('Thou hast conquered, O Galilean!' (Julian the Apostate))
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