London blasts: Be resolute, Govt urges

NAMIBIA has condemned Thursday’s bombings in London, describing them as “a senseless and dastardly act of terrorism”.

President Hifikepunye Pohamba has written to the British monarchy expressing Namibia’s condolences on the loss of innocent lives and destruction to property. The President also wished those injured a speedy recovery.”The killing and maiming of innocent people cannot be justified.I am confident that your government will overcome this tragic incident and take resolute measures to bring those responsible to justice,” he said in his letter.As far as The Namibian could establish at the weekend, no Namibians were injured or killed in the blast.According to estimates from Namibia’s High Commission in the United Kingdom, there are between 8 000 and 9 000 Namibians currently in Britain – most of them working there; others are there on holiday.Titus Shikongo, the First Secretary for Consular Affairs at Namibia’s High Commission, said on Friday that his office had received only a few calls from people wanting to find out if their relatives had been injured.Shikongo said it was difficult to assist everybody who made enquiries.He said many Namibians did not inform the commission when they arrived to live and work in Britain.But he said the Namibian High Commission was in close contact with British authorities, who were forwarding the lists of those injured or killed in the blast.In Windhoek, the Union Jack flew at half-mast at the British High Commission in remembrance of those killed.British Deputy Commissioner in Namibia Sally Biskin said Namibians were welcome to contact her office if they were struggling to contact relatives abroad.Some months ago, the British High Commission in Namibia put on hold a scheme which allowed Namibians under 30 years of age to work and travel in Britain for two years, because they were unable to process the vast number of applications.Many Namibians in Britain currently live there on this arrangement.Biskin said at this time she would not advise Namibians to travel to London until calm had been restored and all the systems were up and running again.However, she said she believed travel elsewhere in Britain would be safe.”We are not going to let these terrorists get to us.As our Prime Minister said, we need to carry on with business as usual.We are very pleased that so many countries have publicly come out and condemned the bombings,” said Biskin.Namibia does not have travel advisories in place for its citizens travelling abroad.Namibia’s Foreign Affairs Spokesperson Isak Hamata said there was no need to raise unnecessary alarm and Namibians were not being advised against travelling to Britain.Neither the British nor the American Embassies in Windhoek would comment on whether they had stepped up security at their buildings and residences in the wake of the bombings.Namibia’s main opposition party, the CoD, has described the bombings as “a mindless act”.”It really is very unfortunate, really horrible.We condemn it without reservation.Innocent people don’t deserve to be terrorised like that,” said CoD President Ben Ulenga.Ulenga said he believed the attacks were “a one-off” and that the terrorists used this particular point in time to maximise attention for their actions.”We shouldn’t allow this thing to paralyse the world,” he said.Air Namibia, which began flying directly to London just over a week ago, could not immediately say whether the bombings had affected bookings and travel between Namibia and the United Kingdom.The airline’s flight to London left on Thursday evening less than 12 hours after the bombings and the weekend flight schedule to and from London remained unchanged.BIRMINGHAM SCARE * Reuters reports that police evacuated thousands of people and sealed off the centre of England’s second city Birmingham on Saturday night in the biggest security alert since four bombs exploded in London killing more than 50 people.Acting in response to what they said was intelligence of a threat, police cleared the city’s entertainment and Chinatown districts of some 30 000 people and carried out a controlled explosion on a bus.But they stressed the security alert was not connected to Thursday’s bomb attacks in London.It was among several security scares in Britain on Saturday in the wake of the London attacks.Police have warned the bombers may still be at large and could strike again.Earlier, they revealed that the three bombs that ripped through London underground trains went off almost simultaneously, making it more likely they were detonated by timers rather than suicide bombers.A fourth bomb that blew up a bus almost an hour later was probably left in a bag and not triggered by a suicide bomber, they added.Police said they were looking for no specific individuals and that the bombs were made of high explosive, not home-made materials.The President also wished those injured a speedy recovery.”The killing and maiming of innocent people cannot be justified.I am confident that your government will overcome this tragic incident and take resolute measures to bring those responsible to justice,” he said in his letter.As far as The Namibian could establish at the weekend, no Namibians were injured or killed in the blast.According to estimates from Namibia’s High Commission in the United Kingdom, there are between 8 000 and 9 000 Namibians currently in Britain – most of them working there; others are there on holiday.Titus Shikongo, the First Secretary for Consular Affairs at Namibia’s High Commission, said on Friday that his office had received only a few calls from people wanting to find out if their relatives had been injured.Shikongo said it was difficult to assist everybody who made enquiries. He said many Namibians did not inform the commission when they arrived to live and work in Britain.But he said the Namibian High Commission was in close contact with British authorities, who were forwarding the lists of those injured or killed in the blast.In Windhoek, the Union Jack flew at half-mast at the British High Commission in remembrance of those killed.British Deputy Commissioner in Namibia Sally Biskin said Namibians were welcome to contact her office if they were struggling to contact relatives abroad.Some months ago, the British High Commission in Namibia put on hold a scheme which allowed Namibians under 30 years of age to work and travel in Britain for two years, because they were unable to process the vast number of applications.Many Namibians in Britain currently live there on this arrangement.Biskin said at this time she would not advise Namibians to travel to London until calm had been restored and all the systems were up and running again.However, she said she believed travel elsewhere in Britain would be safe.”We are not going to let these terrorists get to us.As our Prime Minister said, we need to carry on with business as usual.We are very pleased that so many countries have publicly come out and condemned the bombings,” said Biskin.Namibia does not have travel advisories in place for its citizens travelling abroad.Namibia’s Foreign Affairs Spokesperson Isak Hamata said there was no need to raise unnecessary alarm and Namibians were not being advised against travelling to Britain.Neither the British nor the American Embassies in Windhoek would comment on whether they had stepped up security at their buildings and residences in the wake of the bombings.Namibia’s main opposition party, the CoD, has described the bombings as “a mindless act”.”It really is very unfortunate, really horrible.We condemn it without reservation.Innocent people don’t deserve to be terrorised like that,” said CoD President Ben Ulenga.Ulenga said he believed the attacks were “a one-off” and that the terrorists used this particular point in time to maximise attention for their actions.”We shouldn’t allow this thing to paralyse the world,” he said.Air Namibia, which began flying directly to London just over a week ago, could not immediately say whether the bombings had affected bookings and travel between Namibia and the United Kingdom.The airline’s flight to London left on Thursd
ay evening less than 12 hours after the bombings and the weekend flight schedule to and from London remained unchanged. BIRMINGHAM SCARE * Reuters reports that police evacuated thousands of people and sealed off the centre of England’s second city Birmingham on Saturday night in the biggest security alert since four bombs exploded in London killing more than 50 people.Acting in response to what they said was intelligence of a threat, police cleared the city’s entertainment and Chinatown districts of some 30 000 people and carried out a controlled explosion on a bus.But they stressed the security alert was not connected to Thursday’s bomb attacks in London.It was among several security scares in Britain on Saturday in the wake of the London attacks.Police have warned the bombers may still be at large and could strike again.Earlier, they revealed that the three bombs that ripped through London underground trains went off almost simultaneously, making it more likely they were detonated by timers rather than suicide bombers.A fourth bomb that blew up a bus almost an hour later was probably left in a bag and not triggered by a suicide bomber, they added.Police said they were looking for no specific individuals and that the bombs were made of high explosive, not home-made materials.