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| Britain |
| London on high alert as bad guys still at large |
| 2005-07-09 |
| London is on the highest state of alert after British security services said on Friday they assumed that the terrorists responsible for Thursday's bomb attacks that killed more than 50 people remained at large and could strike again. âWe are working on the assumption that those responsible for the bombings are still out there and could do it again. As a result, it's a huge national police operation with the help of foreign police forces,â said a senior British security official. Police forensic experts continued to comb the crime scenes for clues, a particularly grisly and difficult task in the heat of the deep, rat-infested Underground tunnel near Russell Square where at least 21 people lost their lives. Sir Ian Blair, London's police commissioner, said the morning rush hour bombings bore all the hallmarks of the al-Qaeda terrorist group: nearly simultaneous attacks with no warning, causing mass casualties. He described the investigation as âa national enterpriseâ, which would require the fullest support of Londoners across races and faiths. âIt is not the police and intelligence community which defeat terrorism; it's communities that beat terrorism,â he said. Police remained cautious in their assessment of how the four bomb blasts three on the Underground and one on a bus were carried out. They said the bombs, which also injured some 700 people, each contained 4.5kg or less of Semtex or other commercial high explosive. They said it was still not clear how they were detonated. One hypothesis is that three devices in the Underground were exploded by simple timers, possibly linked to mobile phones. But police have not ruled out the possibility that the explosion on the bus, which killed 13 people in Tavistock Square, was caused by a suicide bomber or was set off accidentally by a terrorist on the way to another target. The investigation will include an extensive review of CCTV footage. CCTV density in London is high and experts will be able to review activity along the Tube and bus routes. âThis is the largest CCTV recovery we have ever had to do,â said the senior security official. Terrorism experts drew parallels with the March 2004 rush hour bombings in Madrid, where some of those responsible were planning further attacks on the public transport system and eventually blew themselves up in a confrontation with police. Ken Livingstone, London's mayor, said he would travel to work as normal on Monday using the Underground. âThat is the advice I would give to every Londoner that we should keep enjoying the city and living and working in the city.â He echoed the widespread judgment that the city's emergency response plan had worked well and praised emergency services and transport staff for âacts of courage and selfless dedicationâ. Emergency services on Friday responded to a significant number of false alarms across the city. âEverything we had planned for on this day we knew would happen, worked like clockwork,â Mr Livingstone said. âOur preparedness has paid off.â Charles Clarke, the home secretary, urged people to go about their business as normally as possible as transport staff attempted to resume normal services. London Underground was operating a near-normal service, buses were expected to be fully back in action and all the main railway stations were open and running as usual, except King's Cross. Scotland Yard said it was increasing police patrols to reassure the public as officers gathered evidence from the scenes of the explosions. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |