London terror

LONDON – Four blasts tore through packed trains and a bus during London rush hour yesterday, killing at least 37 people and disrupting a summit of world leaders in Scotland in the deadliest peacetime attack on the capital.

Markets plummeted before partially recovering and Prime Minister Tony Blair rushed to London from the Group of Eight summit meeting after branding the attacks “barbaric”. Police said they suspected terrorists were behind the bombings.Three explosions caused carnage on underground trains as Londoners made their way to work.The top was also ripped off a double-decker bus near Russell Square in the heart of the British capital.”The scene afterwards was horrible: pieces of body on the ground,” said Ayobami Bello, a 42-year-old security guard who was close to the bus when the explosion occurred.”I saw three bodies on the ground and three just hanging out of the bus.I just missed it myself.If there are any survivors they will have very serious injuries.”Brian Paddick, deputy Assistant commissioner of London police, said seven people were killed on an underground train near Liverpool Street, 21 were confirmed dead in the metro near King’s Cross and five died at Edgware Road.An unknown number of people were killed in the bus.Security experts said the blasts had all the hallmarks of the al Qaeda network responsible for the Sept 11 2001, attacks on the United States and the Madrid train bombings in 2004.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.”We are clearly shocked but we are not surprised by what has happened,” Paddick told reporters, adding that police had received no warning prior to the attacks.US President George W Bush, speaking at the G8 summit, told reporters that “the war on terror goes on”.Britain is a key ally of the United States in its war in Iraq, where al Qaeda is waging a bloody insurgency.OLYMPIC BLOW 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 had planned to return to the Gleneagles, Scotland, talks later in the day.The attacks left Londoners in shock.The Islamic Human Rights Commission warned London Muslims to stay at home to avoid any violence aimed at them.The bombings 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 of Europe was on alert.The carnage began at around 9 a.m.(0800 GMT) with the first blast and ended an hour and three more explosions later.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.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.”Emergency services were pushed to the limit, with medics treating the wounded on train platforms and in a makeshift field hospital set up in a retail store.People with non-urgent complaints were urged to stay away from hospitals.”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) Putin,” he said, speaking of the G8 summit.The city’s streets rapidly emptied and financial markets initially fell sharply 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.Oil prices fell over five per cent before recovering and London stocks closed around two per cent lower.Sterling sank to a 19-month low against the dollar and stayed there.- Nampa-ReutersPolice said they suspected terrorists were behind the bombings.Three explosions caused carnage on underground trains as Londoners made their way to work.The top was also ripped off a double-decker bus near Russell Square in the heart of the British capital. “The scene afterwards was horrible: pieces of body on the ground,” said Ayobami Bello, a 42-year-old security guard who was close to the bus when the explosion occurred.”I saw three bodies on the ground and three just hanging out of the bus.I just missed it myself.If there are any survivors they will have very serious injuries.”Brian Paddick, deputy Assistant commissioner of London police, said seven people were killed on an underground train near Liverpool Street, 21 were confirmed dead in the metro near King’s Cross and five died at Edgware Road.An unknown number of people were killed in the bus.Security experts said the blasts had all the hallmarks of the al Qaeda network responsible for the Sept 11 2001, attacks on the United States and the Madrid train bombings in 2004.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.”We are clearly shocked but we are not surprised by what has happened,” Paddick told reporters, adding that police had received no warning prior to the attacks.US President George W Bush, speaking at the G8 summit, told reporters that “the war on terror goes on”.Britain is a key ally of the United States in its war in Iraq, where al Qaeda is waging a bloody insurgency.OLYMPIC BLOW 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 had planned to return to the Gleneagles, Scotland, talks later in the day.The attacks left Londoners in shock.The Islamic Human Rights Commission warned London Muslims to stay at home to avoid any violence aimed at them.The bombings 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 of Europe was on alert.The carnage began at around 9 a.m.(0800 GMT) with the first blast and ended an hour and three more explosions later.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.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.”Emergency services were pushed to the limit, with medics treating the wounded on train platforms and in a makeshift field hospital set up in a retail store.People with non-urgent complaints were urged to stay away from hospitals.”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 opp
ortunity.”Here you have a massive headline event which involves the three world leaders that al Qaeda detests – Bush, Blair and (Russian President) Putin,” he said, speaking of the G8 summit.The city’s streets rapidly emptied and financial markets initially fell sharply 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.Oil prices fell over five per cent before recovering and London stocks closed around two per cent lower.Sterling sank to a 19-month low against the dollar and stayed there.- Nampa-Reuters