Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community - View Single Post

aberkok · 07-09-2005, 06:18 AM

Here's the latest from the Guardian:

Story

I've emboldened a quotation I was impressed with.

Quote:

Chris Johnston
Saturday July 9, 2005

The three London Underground explosions occurred within seconds of each other at about 8.50am, the Metropolitan Police said today.

Brian Paddick, the deputy assistant commissioner, said the revised timings were made after reviewing technical records from Transport for London.

The records suggest that timers rather than individuals may have set off the devices, but Mr Paddick stressed that no line of enquiry had been ruled out.

It was originally thought that the Edgware Road bomb was detonated at 9.17am, but it transpired that this was when police were first called about an explosion, and there had been earlier calls about other incidents. The Tavistock Square bus bomb timing remains at 9.47am.

Article continues
Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today programme earlier this morning, Tony Blair said that no amount of surveillance could have prevented Thursday's terrorist attacks in London.

The prime minister said that the government did everything it could to protect Britons, but added: "If people are actually prepared to go on to a tube or a bus and blow up wholly innocent people, people just at random, to do the maximum death and destruction without any thought for their human rights or human life, you can have all the surveillance in the world and you couldn't stop that happening."

"That is why ultimately, although we have to take the measures necessary, the underlying issues have to be dealt with too," he said.

Mr Blair said the response of Londoners had been "extraordinary" and showed that they would not be "terrorised by terror".

"I think that we will continue with our way of life, I genuinely believe that," he said. "Even as we mourn the lives of those people killed so brutally and unnecessarily the sense, I think, and I hope, within the country, is to pull together and to make sure people can't divide us,"

The government will be cautious and will not introduce authoritarian laws in response to the tragedy, promised Mr Blair, who chaired another meeting of the Cobra civil contingencies committee this morning.

Meanwhile, a new claim of responsibility for the bombings was posted on the internet today by a group linked with al-Qaida.

But the authenticity of the statement from the Abu Hafs al-Masri Brigade could not be confirmed and was treated with caution. The group has previously claimed responsibility for events that it was unlikely to have played any role in, such as the 2003 blackouts in the United States and London that resulted from technical problems.

Another group, calling itself The Secret Organisation of al-Qaida in Europe issued a claim of responsibility for Thursday's attacks three hours after the rush-hour explosions.

A massive police hunt is underway for what appears to be a small al-Qaida cell responsible for the four bombs.

Early speculation that suicide bombers were involved appeared to be receding, with evidence that the tube bombs had been placed on the floor by the carriage doors. Anti-terrorist sources said that the main anxiety was that the bombers were still at large and could strike again.

Sir Ian Blair, the Metropolitan police commissioner, said four bombs, weighing less than 4.5kg (10lbs) each, were probably carried in backpacks and placed on the floor of the three underground carriages and on the seat or floor of the number 30 bus that was blown apart in Tavistock Square.

"There is nothing to suggest that there was a suicide bomber," said Sir Ian, "but nothing can be ruled out." The bombers, he admitted, could be at large in Britain, already out of the country, or dead.

Nothing could have been done to prevent the attack, he said. "No intelligence service is perfect. This is an imperfect world and it is an imperfect science."

The leads now being pursued will come from closed circuit television tapes and mobile phone calls made in the area of the bombs. Police are also hoping to receive tip-offs from the public, such as people who have noticed that a lodger is missing or that a lock-up garage is deserted.

Attention has focused on the number 30 bus and the possibility that the bomb there was in transit to another tube train and went off prematurely, killing 13 people.

"Our total effort today is focused on identifying the perpetrators and bringing them to justice," said Charles Clarke, the home secretary. "That is the number one preoccupation that the police and the security services have at this moment."

Dozens of emergency workers are continuing the grim task of removing bodies from tube carriages and searching for clues that could lead to the prosecution of those responsible.

Andy Trotter, deputy commissioner of the British Transport Police, said emergency services would continue to try to remove the 21 bodies that are believed to remain on the Piccadilly line train between Russell Square and King's Cross stations today and into tonight. However, the rescue operation will progress carefully as conditions are said to be hot and hazardous.

The official death toll in the worst terrorist attack on mainland Britain stands at 49 people. King's Cross station has become a focal point as people leave flowers and gather with posters of missing loved ones.