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| Britain |
| Hunt for terror mastermind |
| 2005-07-13 |
| Detectives hunting the suicide team responsible for the July 7 terror attacks in London believe they know the identity of the fourth bomber, it emerged today. They think he was a friend of the other three suicide attackers and, like them, lived an outwardly ordinary life in the Leeds area. The men, at least three of whom were Britons of Pakistani origin, died with around 50 innocent victims when they blew themselves up on three packed rush hour underground trains and a bus. Police and the security services fear the bombers could have been acting on the orders of an al-Qaida mastermind and there may be another bomb team waiting to strike. Asked whether he believed they were part of a larger cell Home Secretary Charles Clarke said: "A central hypothesis which has to be tested and investigated is that the individuals we know about were working within a wider community." Detectives were working furiously today piecing together the lives of the bombers as neighbours in West Yorkshire told of their shock that suicide attackers had been living in their midst. The bombers had seemed liked normal young men who had lived in Britain all their lives. Shehzad Tanweer, 22, from Beeston, Leeds, who blew himself up on the Aldgate train, was the son of a local fish and chip shop owner, he loved cricket and football and was a sports science graduate. But friends claimed he had travelled to Afghanistan and Pakistan within the last six months, prompting fears he may have attended an al Qaida training camp. Mohammed Sadique Khan, a 30-year-old from Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, blew himself up on the Edgware Road train, police believe. Like Tanweer he seemed an unlikely suicide bomber. Friends said he was married with an eight-month-old baby girl and that he worked with disabled children in a primary school. At almost exactly the same time - 8.50am - the as yet unnamed bomber blew himself up on a train between King's Cross and Russell Square. Nearly an hour later Hasib Hussain, 19, who lived with his parents in the Leeds suburb of Holbeck, killed himself in the explosion on the number 30 bus at Tavistock Square. When he left his home on Thursday morning, with only a few hours to live, he had told his parents the was going to London for the day with friends. At 10.20pm that day his parents reported him missing to the police casualty bureau, providing one of the vital clues which led detectives to Leeds. Neighbours said he had become "very religious" two years ago. His driving licence and cash cards were found in the mangled wreckage of the bus. Tony Blair was "shocked" to learn that the London bombers were home-grown terrorists born and raised in the UK, the Prime Minister's official spokesman said. But the spokesman stressed that the Premier did not believe the root causes of the atrocities lay in tensions within British societies, but could be traced back to problems overseas. The Government will take a "two-pronged approach", involving working both with the police and security services to see whether new anti-terror laws are needed and with the Muslim community to develop methods of steering young people away from radicalism. A Counter-Terrorism Bill, promised in Labour's manifesto, is due to come before Parliament in the autumn and will introduce new offences of preparing for terrorism and encouraging terrorism. The spokesman said the Government would consult with police and security services on whether there are other measures they would like to see introduced, and on whether they would like to see legislation brought forward. "The Prime Minister, like everyone else, is shocked by the bombs, first and foremost, and by the fact that there are people within this country who believed that this was, in their terms, the right thing to do," said the spokesman. "But he is determined that we should take on this extremism, not just by having the right kind of security measures - and whatever we need to do, we will do on that front - but also by harnessing the views of the rest of the community, including the Muslim community, in putting forward that not only has this kind of extremism no place in this country, but also worldwide. "It is his view that this is not a problem that is limited to this country, but it is a symptom of a much bigger problem and we need to look at that." He added: "This problem didn't start in this society, in this country. It started beyond our shores. "Therefore, the issue is not just how we address the problem in this country - and there is no question there is a problem - but how we address the wider issue." Mr Blair's spokesman made clear that, while there were no plans at present to rush legislation through before the start of Parliament's summer recess on July 21, the Government was ready to consider doing so if police believed it necessary. He said the Government would have an "open mind" on any measures which the police thought would help them in the fight against terror. "If the advice from the police is that we need to move in a certain direction and move at a faster pace, we will consider that advice very, very seriously," he said. He indicated that contact had been made with opposition parties on the issue, on which the Prime Minister wishes to proceed with as great a degree of consensus as possible, both within and outside Parliament. "The key thing is that we take measures not just for the sake of taking measures, but take measures that the police and authorities feel will be effective and that we do so with as broad an agreement as possible," said the spokesman. He said that the Prime Minister recognised the Government needs to "step up" work with the Muslim community in order to help them "articulate what is the view of the overwhelming majority of the Muslim community, which is that they want nothing to do with this kind of extremism". He added: "The important thing is that, despite the shock of yesterday's news, the community has recognised that it needs to act and it needs to act now." |
| Posted by:Steve |
| #16 Because they were citizens, isn't the BBC obligated to call them insurgents? |
| Posted by: Super Hose 2005-07-13 20:37 |
| #15 The 'Mastermind' exists becuase PC logic says the bombers both wouldn't and couldn't do this on their own. The 'wouldn't' fallacy is obvious. The 'couldn't' fallacy assumes most people couldn't construct a bomb unaided. The hard part is getting explosives and detonators. Making the bomb is the easy part. I am unconvinced there is a 'mastermind'. However, if there is, it is extremely bad news. People are assuming the bombs are a oneoff like 9/11 and Madrid. If they become a recurrent event we may well see a real response, rather than the PC blather to date. |
| Posted by: phil_b 2005-07-13 19:01 |
| #14 Really should be "MINDERMAST" Peter Cook portrayed a chief inspector from New Scotland Yard who was being interviewed about the robbery by a BBC commentator, Dudley Moore. At one point the chief inspector is asked if he knows who is behind the crime to which he responds, " We believe this to be the work of a mindermast." He went on to explain that "mindermast" is the code word used at Scotland Yard to describe a "mastermind. "We don't like to use the word 'mastermind' as it depresses the men," he explained. |
| Posted by: bruce 2005-07-13 18:25 |
| #13 Hammerin down that prozak keeps the kook outa okokok don't it? |
| Posted by: half 2005-07-13 14:33 |
| #12 Okay - these muslim extremists were satisfied with attacking their own country. |
| Posted by: Super Hose 2005-07-13 13:41 |
| #11 I think these Muslim extremists have not been satisfied with turning their own countries into a living hell but wish to extend that stupidity to the West. Even the Iraq insurgency demonstrates a lack on any logic. If they are Muslims why do these fools kill other Muslims more than they kill American troops. Fortunately for them our countries are run by idiots who are too weak kneed to round them up and get them out. We should throw all radical Muslims out of our countries immediately. We need to show a united front against them or else they will exploit the cowardice of those who break ranks. |
| Posted by: 0k0k0k 2005-07-13 13:21 |
| #10 Blair needs to call Perv and instruct him to shut down the terrorist training camps. |
| Posted by: john 2005-07-13 12:50 |
| #9 Liberalhawk commented the following: "The Government would also look urgently at how to strengthen the process for deporting the hardline priests who incite hatred" with: Very good. No. Deporting them is not Very good. Good would be to detonate crackers in their ass, weak enough crackers so they have a loooooong and painful agony. Very good would be restarting the penalties for treason in Henry VIII times. |
| Posted by: JFM 2005-07-13 12:33 |
| #8 "The Government would also look urgently at how to strengthen the process for deporting the hardline priests who incite hatred" 1. Islam doesn't have priests. 2. Assuming one meant 'imans' instead of priests, the imans could delegate the incitement or simply make available audio tapes, etc. There would be a few imans who just can't help themselves and would be deported but the fact that some hatespeach imans would be given a pass would likely inspire others to go up to the new line. Frankly, I think Britain needs: 1. their own version of the patriot act 2. invite famous apostates from Islam (ibn warraq, hirsi ali, ali sina) to give their side of the issue on the BBC 3. we all need an honest translation of the koran which for every verse tells about which verses contradict it in the koran, which hardline sharia fatwahs have used the verse to justify murder etc. --- actually, I think some people are working on this but the project is underfunded and its a lot of work and will take awhile to complete |
| Posted by: mhw 2005-07-13 12:30 |
| #7 Is importing/deporting the problem actually much of an answer in the end? Why inflict the scum upon somebody else? |
| Posted by: Shadow 2005-07-13 12:24 |
| #6 "The Government would also look urgently at how to strengthen the process for deporting the hardline priests who incite hatred" Very good. |
| Posted by: liberalhawk 2005-07-13 11:57 |
| #5 I think everyone is barking up the wrong tree about the whole Moslem terrorist deal. In the case it was probably their association with the chip shop that drove them all over the edge. I recommend that any legislation include sanctions against chip shops. Maybe they should just close all the chip shops. |
| Posted by: Super Hose 2005-07-13 11:46 |
| #4 oooh...another mastermind. Of course, in Islam, it just means they mind the master. |
| Posted by: 2b 2005-07-13 10:21 |
| #3 Paki terror wotta surprise - thanks ISI! |
| Posted by: Frank G 2005-07-13 10:10 |
| #2 He said this would involve opening up dialogue with Muslim leaders both at home and abroad to mobilise the "moderate and true voice of Islam". Good luck with that. |
| Posted by: Robert Crawford 2005-07-13 09:54 |
| #1 Tony Blair today said he intended to tighten the Government's controversial anti-terror laws after the London bombings which claimed 52 lives. Mr Blair also said measures were in hand to fast-track the deportation of radical priests, to prevent them from spreading what he described as their "evil and extreme ideology", springing from a "perverted and poisonous misinterpretation of Islam". Today Mrr Blair said that in the next 14 days proposals would be published to tighten the anti-terror laws - including the controversial control orders - which scraped its way onto the statute book at the end of the last Parliamentary session. The focus would be on measures to combat the incitement and instigation of terrorism. The Government would also look urgently at how to strengthen the process for deporting the hardline priests who incite hatred. He said this would involve opening up dialogue with Muslim leaders both at home and abroad to mobilise the "moderate and true voice of Islam". He added: "I think we all know that security measures alone are not going to deal with this." |
| Posted by: Steve 2005-07-13 09:43 |