Also, the reason the investigators concluded that they were suicide bombers was that PAPERS were found identifying the perps.
Now, if the four jihadis' mission were indeed a suicide mission, would their handlers have allowed them to carry on their person precisely the evidence needed to trace the deed back to the planners themselves? The handlers couldn't risk asking the jihadis to remove the papers from their person for fear they would smell a rat, and not carry out the mission. I too believe that this was a remote detonation, and the Islamists cannot reveal the fact that no one is willing to die for their cause anymore.
" I too believe that this was a remote detonation, and the Islamists cannot reveal the fact that no one is willing to die for their cause anymore."
Yup. Also agree with that. If these people thought this was their final mission why would they only take 10 pounds of explosive each when there was far more than that found in their car? I would suggest they *thought* they needed the explosives left in the car for a future operation. You don't have future operations if you are a suicide bomber! They would have used the lot.
I suspect they were told by their handler that as a test they had to take part in a minor operation to prove themselves and ferry some explosives to an other operative who was going to plant it later. I bet they had the promise of bigger operations later on if they didn't mess this one up.
I guarantee that if they were the real deal suicide bombers the many people who survived the bus bombing would recall a scream of "Allah Akhbar" just before it went boom. No such reports.
I'd put my mortgage on it being a timer that the carriers knew nothing about.