|
Personal documents of suspects by seats of explosions { July 13 2005 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/world/ny-wobomb0713,0,7846174.story?coll=ny-worldnews-headlinesFrom there, investigators began painstakingly assembling evidence about the suspects. It came from a variety of sources, including thousands of hours of closed-circuit surveillance tape from subway stations and from the bomb scenes, where they found "personal documents bearing the names of three of those four men close to the seats of three of the explosions," Clarke said.
http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/world/ny-wobomb0713,0,7846174.story?coll=ny-worldnews-headlines
4 suicide suspects in London bombings
Investigators identify suspects in bombings as Britons, at least 3 of Pakistani heritage; a fifth suspect is arrested in transit attacks
BY LETTA TAYLER
STAFF WRITER
July 13, 2005
LONDON -- British investigators have identified four Britons, at least three of them of Pakistani heritage, as prime suspects in last week's transit attacks amid growing indications that all were suicide bombers.
In a string of dizzying breakthroughs, authorities also arrested a fifth suspect, blasted their way into a house in the northern city of Leeds, and uncovered two caches of explosives they believe were connected with the bombings.
Police refrained from discussing suicides, but they said possessions of three of the men were found at three of the bomb sites. Police suspect that all four men died in the blasts, and media here quoted anti-terror investigators as saying it was likely all four men were suicide bombers.
If true, that would mark a stark new development in Britain, the staunchest U.S. ally in the war on terror. This country has never before been the victim of a suicide attack, much less a homegrown one.
The golden tip came from a suspect's relatives, who called authorities Thursday to say he'd gone missing after the blasts, which killed at least 52 people and wounded 700. That phone call led police to the suspects, at least three of whom lived in or around Leeds, as does the arrested man. The West Yorkshire city about 180 miles north of London has a strong Muslim community.
The bomb suspects traveled south by train to London's King's Cross station, where the three subway trains that were bombed had stopped minutes before the explosions. The four suspects were filmed on closed-circuit television about 20 minutes before the subway blasts. British media reported the videos showed the four men were carrying knapsacks.
Police did not release the names, ages or nationalities of the suspects, but The Times of London said they were thought to include Shahzad Tanweer, 22; Hasib Hussain, 19, and Mohammed Sidique Khan, 30, the father of an 8-month-old baby. The newspaper said police were still trying to identify the fourth bomber.
"This investigation is moving at great speed," a grave but clearly relieved Peter Clarke, head of anti-terrorism for London's Metropolitan Police, said in a news briefing here.
Breaking five days of seeming impasse, security forces also blasted their way into a row house and made early-morning raids on five other homes in West Yorkshire, three of which were the suspects' dwellings. Five hundred people were evacuated, including worshipers at a mosque and residents of an old-age home.
Security forces recovered explosives from two sites: one Leeds home and a car at a railroad station parking lot in Luton, a commuter town between Leeds and London where it is believed the men boarded a train to King's Cross. Police evacuated the Luton station and set off five controlled explosions to reach the car safely.
Investigators were led to the car by another lucky tip: A woman at the Luton train station reported seeing four men leave the vehicle the morning of the blasts, and investigators noted it hadn't been retrieved since, local police said. Investigators also were examining a second car 10 miles west of Luton.
British media reported one suspect was as young as 19. Vincent Cannistraro, former executive director of the CIA's counterterrorism center, said the suspects "had never come across any of our radar screens; they had never been in trouble."
"They were middle-class people, helped handicapped children, all of those things," Cannistraro said. "They went right against the stereotypes."
Given the sophisticated nature of the explosives used and the suspects' backgrounds, Cannistraro surmised that the bombs "undoubtedly came from outside the country."
Friends and neighbors of the men believed to be suspects said they'd never noticed anything suspicious about them or their families. One of the raided Leeds-area homes was that of Tanweer, a cricket-loving college graduate.
Neighbors said Tanweer, whose parents own a fish-and-chips shop, had been missing several days, British media reported. But his friend Mohammed Answar, 19, said there was no way he could have been involved in the bombings, The Times of London reported today.
"It's impossible. It's not in his nature to do something like this," he told The Times. "He's the type of guy who would condemn things like that."
Terror experts cautioned that militants often plant evidence such as identity cards at bomb scenes to throw investigators off the scent. They also noted that even if police had found the bombers, there was no guarantee they would catch the masterminds.
Still, the breakthroughs were a clear victory for British security agents, who had come under increasing criticism for apparent delays.
"We've got the filthy -- -- !" exclaimed retiree Anne Bass, 71, in London.
The presumably unsuspecting tip from one suspect's parents came Thursday after news of the bombings broke, Clarke said.
From there, investigators began painstakingly assembling evidence about the suspects. It came from a variety of sources, including thousands of hours of closed-circuit surveillance tape from subway stations and from the bomb scenes, where they found "personal documents bearing the names of three of those four men close to the seats of three of the explosions," Clarke said.
Belongings of the man reported missing were found in the wreckage of a No. 30 double-decker bus where the fourth and final blast occurred, 57 minutes after the three nearly simultaneous subway explosions, Clarke said.
British media had quoted eyewitnesses describing a young man who'd fidgeted suspiciously with a bag on that bus shortly before it exploded.
"Everybody is standing, face-to-face, and this guy kept dipping into this bag," survivor Richard Jones, 61, of Berkshire, told the BBC.
Property bearing the name of a second suspect was found on the scene of the bomb below the Aldgate subway station, and belongings in the name of a third suspect were found at both the Aldgate and Edgware Road subway bombs.
"We have strong forensic evidence that it is very likely that one of the men from West Yorkshire died at the explosion at Aldgate," Clarke said.
The arrested man is thought to be related to one of the other four suspects, British media quoted investigative sources as saying. Under England's tough anti-terror law, he can be held for two weeks without charges.
Muslim leaders condemned the possibility that Islamic followers were behind the attacks. "Nothing in Islam can ever justify the evil actions of the bombers," said Sir Iqbal Sacranie of the Muslim Council of Britain.
But authorities braced for more hate crimes against Muslims, which have been on the rise since the bombings. Yesterday, police reported an Asian man was killed in a suspected hate crime in Nottingham.
Special correspondent Knut Royce contributed to this story.
Copyright 2005 Newsday Inc.
|
|
