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| Britain | |
| British Police Seek Public's Help in Arresting Culprits | |
| 2005-07-08 | |
| (CNSNews.com) - More than 50 people are dead and not all the bodies have been recovered following Thursday's terror attacks in London, police said on Friday. At a news conference held 27 hours after the first bomb blast, British police told the public "what we do know" and where they plan to go from here. They described two of the crime scenes as "difficult" in terms of body recovery. Because of damage to the subway tunnel at the Russell Square station, investigators have not yet been able to remove bodies from the demolished train car, which "still contains a number of fatalities," they said. Police said all survivors were removed from the train tunnels within hours of the attacks on Thursday. As for the attack on a double-decker bus (the second "difficult recovery" scene), there is nothing to suggest it was a suicide bombing -- although "nothing at this stage can be ruled out." Additional: Counterterrorism officials in London said they were still trying to determine the type of explosives that were used. One official speculated that the No. 30 bus whose roof was blown off at 9:47 a.m. in Bloomsbury was demolished accidentally by a suicide bomber. But another theory gaining momentum was that the bomb exploded prematurely as a bomber was carrying it to an intended target, several American and British counterterrorism officials said. The officials said that the three subway bombs appeared to have been detonated by timers, not cellphones or other remote triggers. The bombs on the trains were believed to be package bombs and are believed to have been left by the attackers who fled before they went off. Police said at this point, they believe the bombs used in the four separate attacks each contained less than ten pounds of high explosive. They also denied reports that investigators had found two more unexploded bombs in the subway tunnels. There were not any more bombs, they said.
Investigators believe that in the first explosion, on a train coming out of the Aldgate station, the bomb was placed in the third car. In the explosion between Kings Cross and Russell Square stations, the bomb was in the first car by the first set of doors. And the bomb was in the second car of the train that blew up near the Edgware station. Of the 700 people injured in Thursday's attacks, 350 were treated at the scene, another 350 were treated at the hospital, and 22 are in critical condition, police said. One terror victim died overnight in the hospital. British police praised the emergency and rescue services for their response to the disaster, calling it an example of "team London at work." They said the goal now is to track down the people who did this -- and they emphasized that police work alone will not solve the case. "The most important thing that I want to get across to everyone this morning is that we do need the community's help," said Hayman. Information from the public makes a big difference, Hayman said, and he urged anyone with information to call an anti-terrorist hotline. "The position at the moment is, I would not want to discount any information that someone thinks is relevant." "We've got the best people investigating this matter," Hayman added. "They're very experienced as are the partners that are helping us. We've got the best communities that will bind together and will give us the information that we need to develop this case." Hayman said the overall aim of British police is to "identify and successfully prosecute the people responsible for this appalling event." In response to a question, Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Ian Blair said it's "blindingly obvious" that there could be additional attacks, not just in London but anywhere in the United Kingdom. "We must remain vigilant," Sir Ian Blair said, and he noted that police are reaching out to "communities." "It is not the police and intelligence services who will defeat terrorism, it is communities that defeat terrorism, and that's why we work so closely with them." As for intelligence that might have indicated an impending attack, Commissioner Blair said, "There is nothing to suggest that intelligence has been missed in any way." He noted that 3 million people travel the London Tube every day and said there's only so much police can do to foil terrorism in a "vibrant and liberal city." | |
| Posted by:Steve |
| #8 Conversely (but for the same reason), communism was very popular among the chattering-classes in the U.S. |
| Posted by: Pappy 2005-07-08 20:26 |
| #7 Exactly, JFM, and for similar reasons, including privately held fantasies of being aligned with a 'superior' group. |
| Posted by: too true 2005-07-08 18:44 |
| #6 Too True Just as it was fashionable in the 30s to sympathize with the Nazis between never do wells of the British upper classes. |
| Posted by: JFM 2005-07-08 17:41 |
| #5 Sounds carefully tuned to appeal to the Moslem people of Britain. I think it's weak, but Brits are subtle. Next time the UK government had better be much more explicit: Moslems have one final chance to demonstrate that they reject the methods of Islam: jihad, taqiya, and sharia. The demonstration requires immediate denunciation and delivery to the police of all jihadists you know. The alternative is suffering a permanent intifada in the UK. |
| Posted by: Kalle (kafir forever) 2005-07-08 13:58 |
| #4 Any swarthy, nervous looking men making hurried escapes up the stairs? Don't forget the Euro converts. Becoming a Muslim has been quite trendy in certain upperclass British circles over the last decade. |
| Posted by: too true 2005-07-08 12:47 |
| #3 They better not profile - it might upset the sensitive types. |
| Posted by: .com 2005-07-08 11:41 |
| #2 British Police Seek Public's Help in Arresting Culprits Okay, so I guess we have the sheriff's permission to form a vigilante posse. Who's got the rope? (Yeah, I've been watching a lot of westerns lately.) |
| Posted by: WhiteCollarRedneck 2005-07-08 10:42 |
| #1 Tapes of the stations just before the explosions. Any swarthy, nervous looking men making hurried escapes up the stairs? |
| Posted by: mojo 2005-07-08 10:19 |