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| Britain |
| London boomers had dry run for attacks |
| 2005-09-21 |
| Less than two weeks before they attacked London on July 7, three of the four suicide bombers traveled to the city for what appears to have been a practice run, the police said Tuesday. The new information came a day after Osama bin Laden's chief lieutenant, Ayman al-Zawahiri, appeared in a videotaped message claiming that Al Qaeda was responsible for the attacks. Three weeks ago, Mr. Zawahiri was shown in a different tape praising the bombings. British and European antiterrorism officials said that they were investigating the claims but had reached no conclusions about who was responsible. American intelligence and counterterrorism officials said Tuesday that they had no reason to doubt the authenticity of the latest tape, which was broadcast on Al Jazeera, the Arab satellite network. But they said it remained unclear what role Al Qaeda played in the London attack. "Al Qaeda is quite content to take responsibility for any number of terrorist attacks, regardless of the nature or extent of their role, including whether they had an inspirational role or a more significant one," said an American counterterrorism official, who requested anonymity because he was discussing sensitive intelligence assessments. An American intelligence official noted that the tape of Mr. Zawahiri had been released by the Sahab media office, the usual outlet for such statements. Some recent tapes have included English-language subtitles, a departure from past practice, in what American officials said was an indication that they were aimed at American and British audiences. Whatever group was the mastermind, officials are coming to understand more clearly the events leading to the attacks, which killed 56 people, including the four bombers, and injured 700. On Tuesday, they released closed-circuit television images showing that three of the bombers - Mohammad Sidique Khan, Shehzad Tanweer and Germaine Lindsay - met at Luton station at 8:10 a.m. on June 28 before traveling to King's Cross station in London. They arrived at King's Cross at 8:55 a.m., were captured again on camera at the Baker Street station at noon and were seen on yet more cameras leaving King's Cross at 12:50 p.m. and arriving back in Luton at 1:40 p.m. "The implication is that they were possibly conducting reconnaissance on that day," Deputy Assistant Commissioner Peter Clarke, head of Scotland Yard's antiterrorism unit, told reporters. "We know that is part of a terrorist's methodology: to check timings, layout and security precautions." Mr. Clarke said the police, who have seized some 80,000 closed-circuit tapes since July 7, still do not know what the men did between 8:55 a.m. and noon. He appealed to the public for help in reconstructing their movements. "What we want to know is where else they went, and did they meet anybody else while they were in London?" The police have also disclosed further details about what the bombers - the three who made the earlier trip to London, as well as a fourth man, Hasib Hussain - did on July 7. Mr. Lindsay arrived at Luton station at 5 a.m.; the other three drove from Leeds in a silver Nissan Micra, arriving at Luton at 6:51 a.m. The four then traveled to King's Cross station, where they split up and set off their bombs, three on the London Underground and one on a bus. The police found a trove of bombing materials in the Nissan Micra, which the men left parked at Luton. Two more "viable devices" - bombs that contained peroxide-based explosives, were surrounded by nails and were ready to go off - were found under the front passenger seat, Mr. Clarke said. There were also coolers in the back of the car, which may have been used to carry the bombs used in the attacks, he said. Peroxide-based bombs need to be kept cool when transported. Asked whether the presence of the two bombs in the front seat implied that two other suicide bombers were meant to join the four on July 7, Mr. Clarke said the question was "interesting but unhelpful." But, he said, "it is of real concern that there were more explosives in the possession of these people on that day." |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |