UK Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said the bombings had "the hallmarks of an al-Qaeda-related attack".
[http://reuters.myway.com/article/20050707/2005-07-07T151931Z_01_N07308400_RTRIDST_0_NEWS-BRITAIN-BLAST-DC.html|An article] from Reuters.com posted at MyWay.com reported that:
A previously unknown group, "Secret Group of al Qaeda's Jihad in Europe," claimed responsibility, but Paddick said it was too early to say whether suicide bombers were involved.Paddick is the deputy assistant commissioner of the London police.
Personally, I find it curious that we've never heard of these guys before now. I'm not sure what it means, but this just sounds fishy to me. I'm not saying they're not a real group, I'm not saying they are. Just because they say they're behind the bombing doesn't mean that they are.
Here's something that will make the conspiracy theorists go ga-ga--apparently the mayor of NYC during the 911 attacks, Rudy Giulliani was just yards from the first explosion. This is according to [http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=355035&in_page_id=1770|an article] at DailyMail.co.uk that says Giulliani said he was that close to the first bombing and that:
"They are a very eerie reminder of September 11, I was right near Liverpool (St) station when the first bombing took place, so I could hear the sirens and then kept hearing reports of different bombing, in different parts of the city.
People should remember that London has been the target of terrorist attacks before. Back in the 1980s and before the Irish Republican Army would sponsor bombings in the British city, targeting locations similar to those targeted by Palestinian suicide bombers. Terrorism is something that the world has been dealing with a long time before we bothered to really start paying attention after 911.
Of course I am saddened by the attacks. However, my concern beyond those dead, wounded and their families is that this attack will be used to further rally support for the failing War Against Terror. The idea that anyone can hunt every last terrorist down is absurd at best. At worst it's an outright lie. The very act of hunting them down makes their ranks grow. Here's a quote from Tony Blair included in [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/4661059.stm|an article] at News.BBC.co.uk:
"They are trying to use the slaughter of innocent people to cow us, to frighten us out of doing the things that we want to do."
Are the things you "want to do" in the best interests of everyone in the world, Mr. Blair? Or just in your best interests? Or worse, yet, in the best interests of companies that have contributed to your campaign and the campaigns of other leaders?
As I mentioned, I'm saddened by this attack, but we'd all be foolish to think that it won't be used to the advantage of Bush and others like him for the advancement of his agenda.
One other thing I thought I should point out about [http://reuters.myway.com/article/20050707/2005-07-07T151931Z_01_N07308400_RTRIDST_0_NEWS-BRITAIN-BLAST-DC.html|that article] from Reuters.com at MyWay.com is that they seem to be helping Bush's propaganda machine already. Here's an example:
Britain has been a key ally of the United States in its war in Iraq, where al Qaeda is waging a bloody insurgency.
Huh, that's funny, because [http://thepete.com/iraqi-insurgents-not-al-qaeda/|according to UPI] most insurgents are in fact Iraqi. And what reporting on terror would be complete without a bit about the financial world? This is literally how the Reuters.com article closes:
On the currency market, the safe-haven Swiss franc hit a six-week high against sterling and rose more than 1 percent against the dollar following the explosions.
"The market is showing a textbook reaction, buying safe-haven currencies like the Swiss franc and euro and away from the dollar," said Marios Maratheftis, currency strategist at Standard Chartered.
Oil prices initially fell more than five percent before recovering and London's FTSE stock exchange lost two percent.
I think the fact that our finances are tied so closely to terrorist attacks to be more than a little worrisome.
From News.BBC.co.uk:
Last Updated: Thursday, 7 July, 2005, 19:34 GMT 20:34 UKLondon bombings toll rises to 37
A series of bomb attacks on London's transport network has killed more than 30 people and injured about 700 others.
Three explosions on the Underground left 35 dead and two more died in a blast on a double-decker bus.
UK Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said the bombings had "the hallmarks of an al-Qaeda-related attack".
Prime Minister Tony Blair promised the "most intense police and security service action to make sure we bring those responsible to justice".
Mr Blair, who had returned to London from the G8 summit in Gleneagles, condemned the terrorists and paid tribute to the stoicism and resilience of the people of London.
"They are trying to use the slaughter of innocent people to cow us, to frighten us out of doing the things that we want to do," he said in a televised statement from Downing Street.
They "should not and they must not succeed," he said.
"We know that these people act in the name of Islam but we also know that the vast and overwhelming majority of Muslims here and abroad are decent and law-abiding people who abhor those who do this every bit as much as we do," he added.
The Queen, who will visit some of those involved in the tragedy on Friday, said she was "deeply shocked" and sent her sympathy to those affected. The union jack flag was flying at half mast over Buckingham Palace.
Further details of the Queen's visit will be announced on Friday morning.
US President George Bush told reporters at the G8 Summit in Gleneagles "the war on terror goes on."
Hundreds of thousands of commuters faced difficult journeys home from London on Thursday night after a day of travel chaos.
Many opted to walk while some booked into hotels.
By late afternoon, major routes out of London, including the M25 and M4, were jammed and motorists have been urged not to drive into the centre as many roads are shut.
All London Underground services have been suspended until at least Friday.
Bus services have resumed in central London (Zone One) with diversions in affected areas. Most mainline train stations are open.
Metropolitan Police Deputy Assistant Commissioner Brian Paddick confirmed 35 people had died in the blasts on the Underground.
He said there were 21 confirmed fatalities following the blast at 0856 BST on a Piccadilly Line train in a tunnel between King's Cross and Russell Square.
There were seven confirmed deaths after a blast at 0851 BST 100 yards into a tunnel from Liverpool Street station. The train involved was a Circle Line train.
And at 0917 BST an explosion on another Circle Line train coming into Edgware Road underground station blew a hole through a wall onto another train at an adjoining platform.
Three trains were thought to be involved and there were seven confirmed deaths so far, Mr Paddick said.
He said two had died in the bus blast at 0947 at the junction of Upper Woburn Place and Tavistock Square.
There were also 700 people injured, Mr Paddick said.
London Ambulance Service said it had treated 45 patients with serious or critical injuries including burns, amputations, chest and blast injuries and fractured limbs.
In other developments:
* The police set up a casualty bureau number on 0870 1566344
* The officer in charge of policing the G8 summit said many of the 1,500 Metropolitan Police officers in Scotland would be urgently redeployed to London
* Celebrations to mark the homecoming from Singapore of the successful London Olympic bid team were cancelled
* 54 state schools were closed in Westminster
* Mobile phone services across London were jammed with all major networks reporting problems as people tried to contact relatives and friends. A spokeswoman for Vodafone said the emergency services were being given priority.
Mr Paddick confirmed police were looking into whether the bus blast was the work of a suicide bomber.
But, he added: "It could as easily be an explosive device left on the bus as the work of a suicide bomber. We are not able to determine which it was yet."
He said no warning had been given before the blasts and that no-one had yet claimed to be behind them.
BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner said he had been told by Whitehall sources that a "massive intelligence effort" was under way to find the perpetrators of the bombings.
He also said a previously unknown group calling itself the Secret Organisation Group of al-Qaeda of Jihad Organisation in Europe had claimed to be behind the attacks in a statement posted on an Islamist website.
The group's statement said the attacks were revenge for the "massacres" Britain was committing in Iraq and Afghanistan and that the country was now "burning with fear and panic", he added.
Early reports had suggested a power surge could be to blame for explosions on the Underground but this was later discounted.
(c) 2005 BBC
From Reuters.com and MyWay.com:
Attacks kill 33 in London, Blair breaks off summit
Jul 7, 11:19 AM (ET)
By Mike Collett-White and Trevor Datson
LONDON (Reuters) - Four blasts ripped through London during rush hour on Thursday morning, killing at least 33 people and disrupting a summit of Group of Eight leaders in Scotland in attacks Prime Minister Tony Blair branded "barbaric."
"We are treating this as a terrorist incident," said Brian Paddick, deputy assistant commissioner of London police.
Witnesses saw the top ripped off a double-decker bus near Russell Square close to King's Cross train terminal, and three more apparently coordinated explosions caused carnage on packed subway trains as Londoners made their way to work.
"I was on the bus," said one dazed passenger. "I looked round and the seats behind me were gone."
"You could see bodies on the road outside," said another eyewitness, Peter Gordon. "There was smoke everywhere. It was carnage."
Paddick said seven people were killed on an underground train near Moorgate station, 21 were confirmed dead near Liverpool Street subway station and five died at Edgware Road.
An unknown number of people were also killed in the bus.
"We are clearly shocked but we are not surprised by what has happened," he told reporters, adding that police had received no warning prior to the attacks.
President Bush, speaking at the G8 summit, told reporters that "the war on terror goes on."
"We will not yield to these terrorists, we will find them, we will bring them to justice," he said.
A previously unknown group, "Secret Group of al Qaeda's Jihad in Europe," claimed responsibility, but Paddick said it was too early to say whether suicide bombers were involved.
Britain has been a key ally of the United States in its war in Iraq, where al Qaeda is waging a bloody insurgency.
Financial markets tumbled as the scale of the attacks became clear and Blair returned to London from the G8 meeting to oversee the emergency. He planned to return to the Gleneagles talks later in the day.
The attacks recalled the 2004 train bombings in Madrid blamed on al Qaeda, and left Londoners in shock. The Islamic Human Rights Commission warned London Muslims to stay at home to avoid any violence aimed at them.
They came just a day after a jubilant London was awarded the 2012 Olympic Games.
"I'm deeply saddened that this should happen at the heart of an Olympic city. Unfortunately there is no safe haven. No one can say their city is safe," said International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge in Singapore.
Italy's interior minister said all Europe was on alert.
DEAD AND WOUNDED
The carnage began at around 9 a.m. (0800 GMT) with the first blast and ended an hour and three more explosions later.
London's police chief Ian Blair said there were indications of explosives at the sites. Other officials added that there was no sign of chemical or biological weapons being used.
London Mayor Ken Livingstone, speaking in Singapore, suggested suicide bombers may have been involved.
"I wish to speak to you directly -- to those who came to London today to take lives," he said. "I know that you personally do not fear to give your own life in exchange for taking others, which is why you are so dangerous."
People were seen streaming out of underground stations covered with blood and soot. Hundreds of passengers were evacuated from stations across the capital, many in shock and with their clothes ripped to shreds, witnesses said.
Security experts said the blasts bore all the hallmarks of al Qaeda, and appeared to target the G8 summit.
"We would put al Qaeda at the top of the list of any suspects," said Alex Standish, editor of Jane's Intelligence Digest. "They have the motives, the means and the opportunity.
"Here you have a massive headline event which involves the three world leaders that al Qaeda detests -- Bush, Blair and (Russian President Vladimir) Putin."
The city's streets rapidly emptied and financial markets plummeted as it became increasingly apparent that the blasts were an attack, and not a power surge on the underground train system as had first been reported.
On the currency market, the safe-haven Swiss franc hit a six-week high against sterling and rose more than 1 percent against the dollar following the explosions.
"The market is showing a textbook reaction, buying safe-haven currencies like the Swiss franc and euro and away from the dollar," said Marios Maratheftis, currency strategist at Standard Chartered.
Oil prices initially fell more than five percent before recovering and London's FTSE stock exchange lost two percent.
(Additional reporting by London bureau)
Copyright 2005 Reuters
From DailyMail.co.uk:
9/11 mayor 'yards from London blast'
17:56pm 7th July 2005
Former Mayor of New York Rudolph Giuliani said the London terror strikes were an "eerie reminder" of 9/11 .
Mr Giuliani, who led the Big Apple through the devastating attacks, said he was only yards away from the first explosion this morning, while on a visit to London.
The politician said: "They are a very eerie reminder of September 11, I was right near Liverpool (St) station when the first bombing took place, so I could hear the sirens and then kept hearing reports of different bombing, in different parts of the city.
"As we were walking through and driving through the streets of the city, it was remarkable how the people of London responded calmly and bravely."
He said the hearts of New Yorkers would go out to Londoners.
"We feel a tremendous empathy with them. I think every New Yorker would join me in saying we feel we very much understand what you are going through," he said.
"This is a difficult time, but the people of London have responded in the exactly right way, with bravery and by moving forward.
"The emergency services people appear to have responded as if they have been very, very well trained and as if they were expecting attacks, they seem to be prepared for it.
"In a strange way a lot of our response to September 11 was modelling ourselves as much as we could on the people of London during the Second World War and the incredible way they withstood the attacks during the battle of Britain."
He said the "resolved and determined response" to the attacks undermined the terrorist attempts to provoke fear and panic.
Referring to strikes in London, New York and Madrid, he added: "All three cities are big, gigantic, open spaces.
"They have democracy and freedom of movement, just by that very nature the number of targets is endless.
"No matter how good your policing, and the policing in London is right at the very top, one of the very, very best, unfortunately these people can try to figure out the places where people aren't concentrating, aren't looking."
The politician, who stepped down as mayor in December 2001, said: "It's hard to say how many (attacks) have been prevented that could have taken place up until this point."
©2005 Associated Newspapers Ltd
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