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| Britain |
| Brits examining evidence seized in London raids |
| 2005-07-13 |
| Police hunting for clues Wednesday in the investigation of the London suicide bombings examined material seized from homes in Muslim neighborhoods where three of the four suspects lived. The British Broadcasting Corp., citing unidentified sources, reported that a fifth suspect was being sought. Police refused to comment. Computer files were among the potential evidence taken Tuesday from the homes when police raided six buildings in the inquiry into what were believed to be the first suicide bombings in Western Europe. They arrested a man who was identified by the British news agency Press Association as a relative of one of the suspected bombers. At least three Britons of Pakistani descent are suspected of carrying out the July 7 attacks that killed 52 and injured 700. Surveillance cameras captured the men as they arrived in the capital 20 minutes before the explosions began. News reports have identified three of the four as Shahzad Tanweer, a 22-year-old cricket-loving sports science graduate; Hasib Hussain, 19; and Mohammed Sidique Khan, the 30-year-old father of an 8-month-old baby. Press Association, citing police sources, said police had identified the fourth suspect, but no name was reported. A U.S. government official confirmed that those men are believed to have been three of the bombers. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because British investigators have not publicly released the identities of the suspected attackers. President Bush has said U.S. intelligence agencies are checking the names of the men for any American connection. Investigators will now have to determine whether the men acted alone or had help in planning the bombings. Tanweer's uncle, Bashir Ahmed, said his nephew went to Pakistan for two months earlier this year to study religion, and the family believed he was attending ``some religious function'' on the day of the bombings. ``It was total shock. I mean, it's unbelievable,'' Ahmed told reporters. ``Our lives have been shattered. It's impossible to describe it. We have had a very pleasant time here. I don't think we can continue here.'' Neighbors in Leeds' rows of Victorian-era red brick houses were apprehensive and hostile, walking quickly past reporters gathered at the cordons. One warehouse worker, who would only give his first name, Saj, said Tanweer was a ``good lad'' and athlete. ``He was quiet,'' he said. ``He was religious. He went to every mosque here. There are loads of mosques here.'' Prime Minister Tony Blair met with British Muslim lawmakers in London and pledged to open dialogue to tackle a ``perverted and poisonous misinterpretation'' of Islam. He also said his government would begin consultations on new anti-terrorism legislation. Addressing the House of Commons, Blair also said the government would look at how to strengthen the process for excluding from the United Kingdom those who incite hatred and make it easier to deport such people. Home Secretary Charles Clarke told the BBC that the Muslim community must ``stand out'' against any ideology that promotes violence and bombings. ``I think that is the clarion call to us, to us as politicians, as broadcasters, to faith leaders, to lawyers, to everybody, to say we have to fight for this society we have, rather than just coasting along and assuming it's all OK,'' he said. ``That means standing out against, in a very strong way, anybody who preaches the kind of fundamentalism, as I say, that can lead four young men to blow themselves and others up on the Tube on a Thursday morning.'' Press Association said the men drove a rental car to Luton, 30 miles north of London, and then boarded a commuter train to London's King's Cross station. Police closed Luton's train station Tuesday and carried out nine controlled explosions on a parked car, which the BBC reported contained explosives. Closed-circuit TV video showed all four men arriving at King's Cross by 8:30 a.m. on July 7, about 20 minutes before the blasts began, said Peter Clarke, head of the Metropolitan Police anti-terrorist branch. Two militant Islamic groups have claimed responsibility for the bombings. Peter Clarke said ``strong forensic and other evidence'' suggests one of the suspects was killed in a subway bombing, and property belonging to the three others was found at the sites of the other blasts. ``The investigation quite early led us to have concerns about the movements and activities of four men, three of whom came from the West Yorkshire area,'' he said. The West Yorkshire region includes Leeds. Acting on six warrants, British soldiers blasted their way into an unoccupied Leeds row house. Streets were cordoned off and about 500 people were evacuated. Hours earlier, police searched five homes elsewhere in the city. Police still were not letting the evacuees return to their homes Wednesday. Mohammed Iqbal, a town councilor who represents the City-on-Hunslet section of Leeds, told The Associated Press that all of the homes raided belong to ``British citizens of Pakistani origin.'' ``This is not good for Muslims,'' Iqbal said. ``We have businesses here. There will be a backlash.'' Several officials, including Foreign Minister Jack Straw, have said the attacks bore the ``hallmark'' of al-Qaida. Jeremy Shapiro, director of research at the Center on the United States and Europe at the Brookings Institution, said Europeans had been involved in suicide attacks in the Middle East, but he knew of no previous suicide bombings in Western Europe. Peter Clarke said police had strong evidence that the man believed to have carried a bomb onto the subway train that exploded between the Aldgate and Liverpool Street stations died in the blast, and they were awaiting confirmation from the coroner. One of the suspects - identified in press reports as Hussain - had been reported missing by his family at 10 p.m. on July 7, and some of his property was found on the double-decker bus in which 13 died. ``We have now been able to establish that he was joined on his journey to London by three other men,'' Peter Clarke said. Investigators also found personal documents bearing the names of two of the other men near seats on the trains that exploded near the Aldgate and Edgware stations. Police did not identify the men. Leeds, about 185 miles north of London, has a population of about 715,000. About 15 percent of residents are Muslim, and many come from a tight-knit Pakistani community, mostly from Mirpur, south of Islamabad in Pakistani-controlled Kashmir. Other pockets of the community are mostly Arab. Khalid Muneer, 28, a spokesman for the Hyde Park Mosque in Leeds, said the community was surprised by the events. ``That connection would surprise us all, even shock the whole community,'' he told AP, adding that Muslims in the area were not opposed to Britain. ``I've seen no calls in this area for jihad against British or American forces.'' Forensics experts have said it could take weeks to identify the bodies, many of which were blown apart and would have to be identified through dental records or DNA analysis. Investigators say 11 bodies have been identified. The waiting seems interminable for families of the victims. ``The police just won't tell us anything,'' said Elzbieta Suchocka, whose 23-year-old daughter, Monika, moved from the Polish farming town of Dabrowka Malborska to London to become an accountant. Suchocka's daughter was believed to be aboard the bus that was torn apart at Tavistock Square. British police arrived Wednesday to retrieve Suchocka's dental records, said her brother, Marcin. ``For me, this is extremely difficult also, but they need this evidence to identify a person,'' he told the AP. ``We must have hope.'' |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #3 Tanweer's uncle, Bashir Ahmed, said his nephew went to Pakistan for two months earlier this year to study religion, and the family believed he was attending "some religious function'' on the day of the bombings. Studying Islamic religion means studying taqiya (deceive non-believers), jihad (kill non-believers), and sharia (oppress all of mankind). Dying after or while murdering the enemy is an Islamic "religious function" -- leading to the status of respectively a fedayeen or shahid with well-publicized rewards in heaven. The time has come for the British to wake up. The enemy is already on your land. |
| Posted by: Kalle (kafir forever) 2005-07-13 20:22 |
| #2 Never. The blame game will not allow it, period, not to mention a coupla dozen other reasons why they are never at fault for anything, ever. Y'know, this is a wank walk. All of this talk about what to do and how to approach them or threaten or psych 'em out - blah3 - pfeh. Wasted bandwidth. Ain't never gonna happen. Many people with cherished touchy-feely opinions will someday be left standing there with their dicks in their hands wondering what the fuck happened, where'd all the Muzzies go? Just when the wankerific patter was sounding so polished, too. Sorry. Not in this incarnation. Fug 'em. |
| Posted by: .com 2005-07-13 17:05 |
| #1 "That connection would surprise us all, even shock the whole community">/em> amazing. so it would "shock" them to know that such an act was the work of muslims? when will the "moderate" muslims wake up? what will it take for them to realize that THEY are the problem? |
| Posted by: PlanetDan 2005-07-13 16:57 |