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On November 27, 2003, the British police arrester a 24-year old man in Gloucester.
This is a British citizen of Pakistani origin believed to be linked to al-Qaida.
A limited amount of explosive was found in his house, not much, but enough to
hurt a few people. This man frequented the local Mosque. Many people accused
of links to terrorism have been arrested in Europe but few have been convicted,
and most were released without charge.
- On November 28, 2003, the British police searched three more houses in Gloucester
following yesterday arrest. This British Muslin born is said to be intelligent,
a devout Muslim, he travelled to Pakistan, and attended the Islamic college
in Blackburn. It is also believed that he was training to become an Islamic
priest, and shared a house with five other men, all Muslims. His friends said
that he is opposed to terrorism because it is contrary to the Islamic faith.
The police is trying to find if he was linked to the shoes-bomber, Richard Reid.
At least one more person was arrested in Manchester and Birmingham.
- On December 2, 2003, the British police arrested 14 people on suspicion of
terrorism in London and other cities.
- On December 3, 2003, the British police arrested a man, Sajid Badat, suspected
of having conspired with Richard Reid who tried to blow up a Paris to Miami
US plane in 2001. Reid had explosive in his shoes. About 20 people have been
arrested in Britain in the last 10 days.
- On February 4, 2004, a British student who was arrested at Miami airport on
January 17 for, jokingly, saying that she had three bombs in her bag was released
after accepting to pay $1,000 to a charity for those who lost relatives on September
11, 2001. In all she spent four nights in jail before being released on bail.
- On February 8, 2004, The Observer told us that terrorists are testing a new
method to explode bombs on airplanes. Instead of trying bringing a bomb on board
they would try to bring components through the security system, and assemble
the bombs in the air. The newspaper added that real tests have already taken
place with success. These concerns were the base for cancelling some transatlantic
flights recently.
- On February 12, 2004, the British pilots and BA executives are becoming more
and more upset as more flights are cancelled at the request of the USA, but
with the agreement of the British government. The latest one are again Sunday
February 15 flight BA223 to Washington DC and Monday February 16 BA263 to Riyadh,
Saudi Arabia. BA accuses the intelligence services of "letting their imagination
run riot", that the US intelligence is "jumping at shadows",
that there has been paranoia in the USA since September 11, 2001, paranoia increasing
now as the US presidential elections are near.
- On February 21, 2004, the British government decided to give much more power
to the police and the courts to fight terrorism. Now terrorist suspects could
be convicted on lower standard of proof, for instance on the evidence of "electronic
eavesdropping" of phone calls, emails, and intent of executing a suicide
bombing.
- On March 4, 2004, the British customs launched an enquiry into the activities
of two British men, Peter and Paul Griffin, who are suspected of having delivered
secret nuclear components to Pakistan, Libya, and Iran.
- On March 14, 2004, four embassies in London received suspicious packages.
The Saudi embassy, and three others, received a letter containing white powder
that is now being analysed. The first results show that there was no danger,
but more tests are being made.
- The same day the London police increased the security in the underground by
sending undercover officers in some trains. Posters are also asking the travellers
to be more vigilant above all telling the police if they see abandoned luggage.
Policemen will also search suspicious travellers.
- On March 16, 2004, Sir John Stevens, the Metropolitan commander of police,
said that a terrorist attack on London is inevitable. It will happen one day,
independently of all the security measures taken to avoid such an event.
- Three British Muslin subjects were jailed for 5 years in Egypt on March 25,
2004. They were accused of promoting an Islamic party banned in Egypt, but authorised
in Britain. They said that they had been tortured in order to sign a confession,
and that the sentence was too long. They forget to add, as usual, that they
did something against the Egyptian laws.
- A British citizen of Moroccan origin, Mohammed al-Gerbouzi, told The Guardian
on March 25, 2004, that he was falsely accused of leading a radical Islamism
group from London where he lives. He is also accused by the Moroccans of being
involved in the bombing in Casablanca and Madrid. He claims that he is the object
of a smear campaign. He admitted being an opponent to the Moroccan government,
to having travelled to Pakistan and Turkey, but not to Afghanistan where some
said that he trained in an al-Qaida camp. He believes that he has been condemned,
in his absence, to 20 years in prison in Morocco after the attacks on Casablanca.
He is also accused of having been a student of the influential radical Islamist,
Abu Qatada, thought to be a leader of al-Qaida in Europe, and of meeting Abu
Dahdah, the Syrian arrested in Spain after the September 11, 2001, attacks on
the USA.
- On March 30, 2004, the British police and MI5 arrested 8 people, British citizens
of Pakistani origin, who they believe were to build bombs to be used on targets
in Britain. Seven hundred policemen raided 24 addresses in and around London.
They found 500 kilos of ammonium nitrate fertiliser that can be used to produce
the kind of explosive used in Madrid's bombing, and in other attacks. On March
31, the police was trying to trace some emails sent from a West Sussex Internet
café to senior militants in Pakistan. On the same day a man, Mohammad
Momin Khawaja, a Canadian of Pakistani origin, was arrested in Canada on the
assumption that he was linked to the 8 men arrested in Britain. A ninth suspect,
again of Pakistani origin, was arrested in Crawley on April 1.
- On March 31, 2004, the Muslim Council of Britain's leaders called on the imams
of about 1,000 Mosques to ask their followers to refrain from joining, helping,
and protecting any terrorist organisations. The Imams were also asked to speak
about peace during the Friday's prayer meetings.
- On April 6, 2004, we were told that terrorists planned to use a chemical bomb
containing osmium tetroxid (OsO4) in an attack in Britain. This product, a booster
for a more conventional explosive, would create a "dirty bomb" very
dangerous if used in a confined and crowded place. Al-Qaida used boosters to
trigger huge blasting bombs in Istanbul and Saudi Arabia.
- In London on April 8, 2004, five men implicated in the bomb plot were formally
charged with terrorist offences. They were accused of having 600 kg of ammonium
nitrate that could be used to make explosive. Three others were released on
police bail.
- On April 22, 2004, a British court ordered the release of a prisoner from
the high security Belmarch prison. The man whose name is unknown -he is identified
as M- is suspected of being a terrorist. He told The Guardian that his fellow
prisoners are suicidal and suffering from acute psychological problems. They
are held without access to lawyers and without charge since the end of 2001.
A second prisoner known as G has also been released. He will be the first prisoner
in Britain to be held under house arrest because he is to mentally sick to be
kept in prison. This is another defeat for the Home Secretary David Blunkett
who fought to keep both of them in jail.
- On April 29, 2004, ten people (eight men, a boy and a woman) arrested on suspicion
of involvement in the preparation of terrorist acts in Greater Manchester on
April 19 were released without charges. However six of these men were re-arrested
on immigration charges and bailed. One was deported to North Africa.
- On May 27, 2994, the British police arrested the Imam Abu Hamza al-Masri at
the request of the Americans who accuse him of eleven violations of the US terrorist
laws. They asked for his extradition, but the British authorities will not be
able to accept it if he risks the capital punishment in the USA. Abu Hamza was
the Imam of the Finsbury Park Mosque in London. However, he has been banned
from preaching there because he was inciting his audience to fight a holy war
(Jihad) against the westerners in general, the Americans, and British more precisely.
He is also accused of recruiting Muslins for al-Qaida and sending them to Afghanistan.
He is wanted in France and in Yemen.
- On June 19, 2004, the British police was told that some quantities of the
lethal poison ricin may have found their way in the UK. A militant, Menad Benchellali,
fabricated the poison in Lyon, France. The French police revealed that a certain
amount of the product is unaccounted for, and Britain is one of the possible
locations for it.
- On August 3, 2004, 13 people were arrested by the British police on suspicion
of being linked to terrorism. One was released on August 4 while the others
are still interrogated. One of the men is thought to be a senior al-Qaida agent.
Their arrest follows the arrest of two terrorists in Pakistan -one is Naeem
Noor Khan, a computer expert- and the information contained in their computers.
According to Khan there is a terror network in Britain headed by a top al-Qaida
operative. He added that he was in contact with six people in the USA, probably
his contact points with six sleeping al-Qaida cells. Three more men were released
but the interrogation of the nine still in custody continued on August 8 after
the magistrates allowed the police to keep them in custody a few more days.
Among them, two are not kept as suspect terrorists any more but they are now
accused to possess and use false identity documents.
- On August 5, 2004, the Americans and the British confirmed that one of the
twelve terrorists arrested in London a few days ago, Abu Musa al-Hindi, is a
senior al-Qaida member. The solicitor for seven of the twelve men in custody
said that the police injured them during the arrests.
- Babar Ahmad a British citizen was arrested on August 6, 2004 on request of
the USA. The Americans want him of suspicion that he helped recruit fighters
and raise funds for the Taliban and al-Qaida using American-based web sites.
He is also thought to have gathered information on US Navy vessels operating
in the Gulf and assessed their vulnerability to terrorist attacks. He is not
connected to the other 12 other terrorist suspects arrested a few days ago.
- On August 10, 2004, the Special Immigration Appeals Commission has ruled the
British government acted legally by detaining 10 terrorism suspects without
charge. Their lawyers argued their arrests were based on information gained
through torture at Guantanamo Bay. They were detained under the 2001 Anti-Terrorism
and Security Act. The men's solicitor said of the court's decision: "It
shows that we have completely lost our way in this country, legally and morally".
- On August 13, 2004, the head of Britain's new FBI-style organised crime-busting
agency has been named. Bill Hughes, the current head of the National Crime Squad,
was appointed director general of the Serious and Organised Crime Agency (Soca).
Ex-MI5 boss Sir Stephen Lander will be the agency's chairman. Soca's 5,000 special
officers will focus on drug smugglers, people traffickers and web paedophiles
and is a merger of two current squads.
- On August 14, 2004, a judge dismissed an American request for a British terrorist
suspect to be handcuffed in a central London court hearing. Babar Ahmad, 30,
a computer analyst from London, appeared for a second time at Bow Street magistrate
court. He is accused of raising money through websites and email and to support
terrorism in Chechnya and Afghanistan. Mark Summers, for the US government,
asked for Mr Ahmad, who was flanked by two security guards, to be handcuffed
at the hearing. Mr Ahmad was rearrested on August 5 and allegedly found to have
email links to a Chechen mujahideen leader who planned the Moscow theatre attack
and that he operated pro-jihad websites. He faces four charges in the US, carrying
sentences of between 20 years and life imprisonment, relating to the alleged
offences between 1998 and 2003. He was remanded in custody until September 10.
- Eight British men arrested under the Criminal Law Act 1977 two weeks ago have
appeared in Belmarsh Magistrates' court on Wednesday August 18, 2004. They are
charged with conspiracy "together and with other persons unknown"
between 1 January 2000 and 4 August 2004 to commit murder and public nuisance
by using radioactive material, toxic gas, chemicals or explosives. They were
all remanded in custody to appear at the Old Bailey on 25 August. A ninth man,
Matthew Monks, 32, of Sudbury, London, held with them on 3 August appeared at
the same court charged with possession of a prohibited weapon. He was released
on bail.
- On August 28, 2004, the police have been given more time to question Muslim
cleric Abu Hamza al-Masri, who is being held on suspicion of commissioning,
preparing or instigating terrorist acts in the UK. He was arrested two days
ago at Belmarsh Prison where he is already fighting extradition to the US. Magistrates
at Bow Street, London, granted police a warrant to hold Mr Abu Hamza until 2
September. Under the Terrorism Act 2000, police can hold the cleric for a maximum
of 14 days before deciding whether to charge or release him.
- Muslim cleric Abu Hamza al-Masri has been de-arrested, Scotland Yard said
on August 31, 2004. The US authorities want Mr Abu Hamza to face 11 charges,
include giving advice to those involved in a Yemen kidnapping in which three
Britons died in 1989. Other allegations include attempting to set up a terrorist
training camp in the northwestern state of Oregon and sending someone to Afghanistan
to fight for the Taliban.
- On September 5, 2004, Tory leader Michael Howard urged the British government
to appoint a US-style minister for homeland security although Home Office minister
for crime, Hazel Blears, already has extra responsibility for counter-terrorism.
Speaking on GMTV, Mr Howard said one minister should deal with the threat of
terrorism to the UK.
- The British singer Yusuf Islam, formerly known as Cat Stevens, was sent back
to London after being refused entry to the United States on September 22, 2003.
The US authorities said the decision was made on national security grounds.
Mr Islam was on a flight from London to Washington when officials realised his
name was on a "watch list". The plane was diverted to another US airport.
Another US joke?
- On September 24, 2004, four businessmen were questioned by UK police investigating
a Sunday newspaper (the News of the World)'s claims that a group of businessmen
were trying to buy radioactive material. Police had not found any radioactive
or bomb-making material but that searches were ongoing. The men have been arrested
on suspicion of commissioning, preparing or instigating acts of terrorism.
- On October 4, 2004, nine British Law Lords began hearing a challenge to the
government's right to detain foreign terror suspects without trial. The case
focuses on nine suspects who have been held for up to three years. The detainees'
legal team argue it is wrong for them to be held without charge indefinitely,
and wrong to single out foreign nationals. The government believes the measure
is justified because of the scale of the terrorist threat after 11 September.
The Anti-Terrorism, Crime and Security Act allows the imprisonment without trial
of foreign nationals certified by the home secretary as a threat to national
security, but who cannot be sent home because they might face death or torture.
- On October 19, 2004, Britain charged Muslim cleric Abu Hamza al-Masri with
16 offences including soliciting to murder and possession of a terrorist document.
He appeared at the magistrates' court at Belmarsh prison, where he has been
held since May at the request of the US, who hopes to extradite him. Mr Abu
Hamza is accused of encouraging people at public meetings to murder Jews and
other non-believers in Islam. The Egyptian-born cleric has always denied any
involvement in terrorism.
- On November 22, 2004, we were told that Britain foiled two attacks similar
to those of September 11, 2001, on the USA. One of them should have been on
Heathrow airport but nothing else was said. Strange!
- On December 16, 2004, the British highest court of appeal ruled that the government
cannot detain suspected foreign terrorists indefinitely without trial. The Law
Lords ruled that the antiterrorist law violates European Human Rights laws.
The final decision belongs to the Parliament but it is believed that the government
will have to amend the laws or try the 8 or 9 foreigners still in prison, or
reduce the measure for instance to house arrest.
- On December 18, 2004, British police arrested a Libyan man after blowing up
his luggage at Darlington regional airport. No trace of explosive was found,
and it is not clear why the Libyan traveller's luggage aroused suspicions.
- On January 24, 2005, three terrorist suspects pleaded innocent in a court
in London to accusations of conspiration to possess a radioactive substance
and funding of terrorism.
- On February 1, 2005, an Egyptian terror suspect known as "C" who
has been detained for three years under the British emergency laws has been
freed without explanations, and without conditions, from Woodhill prison near
Milton Keynes. The new Home Secretary, Charles Clark, said that he believes
that there are not enough evidences to keep him in prison. "C" was
detained because he was suspected to be a leading member of the Egyptian Islamic
Jihad in Britain, a banned organisation that merged with al-Qaida in 2003. He
has been condemned -in his absence- to 15 years in prison in Egypt. "C"
denied all the allegations against him. Eight of the 17 people initially detained
as suspected international terrorists under the emergency anti-terror laws have
now been, or will soon be, released.
- On February 7, 2005 the British home secretary lost his court case to send
back to jail an Algerian terror suspect under house arrest. The man, known only
as "G", broke bail conditions by having two unauthorised visitors
to his home. Mr Justice Collins ruled that Charles Clarke had not proved "to
the necessary standard" that there had been a breach. The home secretary
said he was "disappointed" with the court's decision to allow "G"
to remain on bail. "G" was held for two years without trial before
being freed on bail on mental health grounds in April 2004.
- British terror suspect Saajid Badat has admitted on February 28, 2005, plotting
to blow up a plane on its way to the US using a "shoe bomb". Badat
conspired with fellow Briton Richard Reid and a Belgian terrorist to make the
bomb. He trained as a suicide bomber, but later backed out of the plot. Badat
will be sentenced on 18 March.
- Former Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir John Stevens said on Sunday March
6, 2005, that up to 200 al-Qaida "terrorists" are operating in UK,
and the probability of an attack is real. He has backed proposed anti-terror
laws, saying critics were naive about the "brutal" threat posed by
fanatic terrorists.
- Britain's most senior police chief, Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Ian
Blair, asked on April 17, 2005, new laws to combat terrorist conspiracies saying
the UK is being targeted by "al-Qaida affiliates". He also voiced
support for ID cards.
- On May 17, 2005, a judge ruled that British terror suspect Babar Ahmad can
be extradited to the United States. Mr Ahmad, a computer expert from London,
is accused of running websites supporting terrorists urging Muslims to fight
a holy war. The case has been sent to the home secretary for final approval.
Mr Ahmad has the right to appeal.
- On June 21, 2005, a man has been arrested in Manchester, England, in connection
with suicide bomb attacks on coalition forces in Iraq. He was taken into custody
after a raid by 30 police officers on his house. Police said he was an associate
of a French national who had lived there and is believed to have gone to Iraq
in February to carry out a bombing. The arrest was not related to any threat
to the UK.
- There were three blasts on the Underground network and another on a double-decker
bus in London on July 7, 2005. UK Prime Minister Tony Blair said it was "reasonably
clear" there had been a series of terrorist attacks. He said it was "particularly
barbaric. An Islamist website has posted a statement -supposedly from al-Qaida
- claiming it was behind the attacks.
- More than 50 people died in the London bomb attacks of July 7, 2005. Forty-nine
people are confirmed dead, but efforts to recover bodies from the wreckage of
the Russell Square Tube train continued. Thirteen people died in the bus blast
in Tavistock Square alone. It was not clear yet if it was the work of suicide
bombers. It was however obvious that a terrorist cell was operating in Britain.
The timing of the attacks meant that one person could not have carried all four
attacks out. Mobile phones provided some of the more immediate and vivid images
of the bomb attacks in London. Mobile video footage shot by commuters from inside
London Underground carriages appeared quickly on global news networks across
the world.
- The three bombs on London underground trains "exploded almost simultaneously"
- within 50 seconds of each other- police said on July 9, 2005. There is still
no certainty about the number of people whose bodies remain trapped in wrecked
train carriages below King's Cross station. There are 49 confirmed fatalities
and concern remains for a further 25 missing people. So far the victims have
not been formally identified. The explosions took place at 8.50am and the synchronisation
could suggest that bombs used in the attack were triggered using timing devices.
High explosives were used in the attacks; they were not homemade. Relatives
and friends of those missing are continuing their desperate searches. Posters
are being put up around the capital, and people searching for news have gone
to the four blast sites, displaying photos of the missing.
- On Sunday July 10, 2005, British police appealed to the public to hand over
mobile phone images, video footages, and photographs taken after Thursday's
bomb attacks. They believe they could provide vital clues as the search for
bodies and forensic evidence continues. As prayers were said for the 49 killed
and 700 injured, police insisted: "London is open for business".
- On July 10, 2005, thousands of people were temporarily evacuated as Birmingham
city centre faced "a real and very credible threat". The police declined
to describe its nature but said intelligence indicated it was genuine. Four
suspect packages were blown up, but Mr Scott Lee said they had nothing to do
with the intelligence warnings.
- On July 12, 2005, police believes that at least one suspected bomber died
in Thursday's blasts. Forensic evidence shows that the suspect for the train
explosion at Aldgate died there. Personal documents of three other suspects
were also found close to the other explosion sites suggesting all four died
in the blasts. Police said they have identified four suspects who travelled
to London on the morning of the attacks - three of them from West Yorkshire.
One of the suspects from West Yorkshire had been reported missing by his family.
Some of his property was found at the bus blast scene.
- One man has been arrested in Yorkshire, and taken to London for questioning,
after police raids in Leeds and the seizure of a car in Luton. Earlier police
carried out controlled explosions in Leeds and Luton and searched six houses.
Police in Leeds are looking for explosives; they have already found some suspect
material. Up to 600 people have been evacuated from the area. Police cleared
people from homes as well as a mosque, a health centre and an old people's home.
- On July 12, 2005, the US military has rescinded an order to its personnel
to avoid London in the aftermath of the bombings. Personnel, most of them from
US Air Force units at RAF Mildenhall and RAF Lakenheath, in Suffolk, were told
last week not to go within the M25 motorway area.
- On Wednesday July 13, 2005, police investigating the London bombs are looking
for the masterminds behind the attacks that have killed at least 52 and injured
more than 700. Terrorism experts say a "controlling hand" may have
guided the men. Police are also trying to find the source of the explosives
found on Tuesday in a raid on a property in Leeds and in a car parked at Luton
Central railway station. Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Ian Blair said
another suicide bomb attack is "likely.
- Scotland Yard on Wednesday named six victims of the bombs, bringing the total
of identified bodies to 11.
- On July 13, 2005, police believe that the fourth bomber who died in the explosion
was also British. He is said to be Lindsey Germaine, a Jamaican born man with
apparent links to a house police are searching in Aylesbury. The identities
of the other three bombers have been confirmed as Shehzad Tanweer, 22, Hasib
Mir Hussain, 18 and Mohammed Sidique Khan, 30, all from Leeds.
- On July 14, 2005, residents were evacuated and a controlled explosion was
carried out in an area of. Two double-decker buses moved residents out of their
homes in the city's Beeston area, near the home of suicide bomber Shehzad Tanweer.
Police told residents to pack enough clothes for three days. Meanwhile, detectives
are continuing the search in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, for people linked to
the attacks.
- On July 15, 2005, police said that the explosives found until now could be
made from ingredients available from high-street chemists. Police say a flat
in Leeds being searched is linked to a 33-year-old Egyptian chemistry student,
Magdy Mahmoud Elnashar. His colleagues have not seen him since early July. He
is not yet a suspect. The bombers' homes are also being searched. The BBC has
also learned that a suspected al-Qaida member entered Britain two weeks before
the bombs. He was not kept under watch.
- A man injured in the bus bombing in Tavistock Square died in hospital on Thursday
July 14, 2005, bringing the number of confirmed victims to 51. Three of the
bombers have also been confirmed dead, with the fourth also thought to have
died.
- An Egyptian biochemist was held for questioning in Egypt over the London bomb
attacks. Egypt's interior minister said on July 16, 2005, that he has no links
to al-Qaida. Habib al-Adli told Egyptian newspaper Al-Jumhuriyah media that
speculation about Magdi Mahmoud al-Nashar was groundless. He also denied agents
of the British security services had participated in Mr al-Nashar's interrogation
in Cairo. The Egyptians are doing everything possible to cooperate. Unofficial
sources in Cairo and London say British agents are observing the 33-year-old's
ongoing interrogation.
- On July 17, 2005, British police have released CCTV images of the four London
bombers together as they set off on their deadly mission. The four men were
pictured entering Luton rail station at 0720 BST on Thursday 7 July on their
way to London. Pakistani's authorities put the Islamic religious schools under
closer scrutiny, after reports that one of the bombers attended one last year.
Police confirmed the names of all four bombers - Muhammad Sidique Khan, 30;
Shehzad Tanweer, 22; Hasib Mir Hussain, 18 and Germaine Lindsay, 19.
- Following the July 7, 2005 London bombings, a question is being asked in Britain:
was the worst terrorist attack in London's history a direct consequence of British
participation in the war in Iraq? Or were there deeper-seated causes? Academics,
Muslim leaders, and many Britons, say Iraq was crucial. A survey published in
the Guardian newspaper found that nearly two-thirds of respondents believed
it was a factor. A report issued by the influential independent think tank Chatham
House said there was "no doubt" that Iraq had made Britain's antiterrorism
struggle more difficult.
- Decades of British and American intervention in the oil-rich Middle East motivated
the London bombers, Ken Livingstone said on July 20, 2005. The London mayor
told BBC News he had no sympathy with the bombers and he opposed all violence,
but he argued that the attacks would not have happened had Western powers left
Arab nations free to decide their own affairs after World War I. Instead, they
had often supported unsavoury governments in the region.
- On July 21, 2005, two weeks to the day after the July 7 London bombings, attackers
tried -and failed- to set off explosive devices at three Tube stations and on
a double-decker bus. Police said evidence left behind in Thursday's attempted
bombings has given them what may be a "significant breakthrough" in
their investigation.
- On July 22, 2005, police shot a man dead at Stockwell Tube station in south
London after he was challenged and refused to obey an order. Met Police Commissioner
Sir Ian Blair said the shooting was "directly linked" to the ongoing
London bombs inquiry. Police said it is not yet clear if he was one of four
bombing suspects. A second man arrested at a flat in the Stockwell area is being
held under the Terrorism Act.
- Scotland Yard confirmed Mr Menezes, who lived in Brixton, south London, was
completely unconnected to Thursday's bomb attacks across London. The family
of this Brazilian man shot dead by police hunting the men behind London's attempted
bomb attacks have told of their anger and disbelief. Met Police chief Sir Ian
Blair has apologised for the killing of the 27-year-old electrician. Brazil's
foreign minister is seeking an explanation from Jack Straw.
- On July 25, 2005, the men who failed to blow up three London Tube trains and
a bus three days ago are still in Britain and may have access to explosives.
Three men held by police are not thought to be the would-be bombers. A backpack
carrying a device, which was found in a west London park at the weekend, suggested
a fifth bomber might have been involved. Armed officers have raided a north
London property in connection with the events of 21 July but made no arrests.
- On July 25, 2005, police are examining possible link, between the July 7 and
July 21 terrorists and a whitewater rafting trip. Two of the 7 July bombers
rode the rapids at Canolfan Tryweryn, the National Whitewater Centre in Bala,
North Wales, weeks before the attack. Officers also believe several people with
links to addresses being investigated in relation to the 21 July attack may
have also been on a trip at the centre. But it is not yet clear whether they
are the suspected bombers.
- A majority of British Muslims -58 per cent- believe Prime Minister Tony Blair's
decision to join the US-led war in Iraq was one of the reasons behind terrorist
bombings that killed 52 people on London Underground trains and a bus. Some
21 per cent agreed with the statement that the invasion was "a little"
bit responsible and 10 per cent did not think the war had anything to do with
the attacks. Half of those questioned also said they thought Muslims were not
doing enough to prevent extremists from infiltrating their communities, while
38 per cent thought they were. The poll also found that one in five British
Muslims said they or a family member had faced abuse or hostility since the
July 7 attacks. Of those surveyed, 81 per cent said further attacks by suicide
bombers would not be justified. Five per cent said further attacks would be
justified.
- Suspected bomber Yasin Hassan Omar is being questioned in London over the
failed July 21 attacks. He was arrested in Birmingham on July 27, 2005. Officers
arresting Omar - suspected of the attack near Warren Street Tube station, used
a Taser stun gun. Officers also raided a house in Stockwell, arresting three
women.
- Detectives are questioning two men over the failed bomb attacks in London
on 21 July. They were arrested in armed raids in the capital on Friday July
29, 2005. A third suspect detained by Italian police will face an extradition
hearing in Rome. A fourth man was held in Birmingham. A fifth man is being questioned
over a device found in west London last week.
- On July 30, 2005, Ethiopia-born Briton Osman Hussain, one of the men hunted
by UK police over the failed London bombings, is expected to fight extradition
from Italy. Lawyers for Osman Hussain, also known as Hamdi Isaac, said he had
not agreed to fast-track the lengthy legal process. Three other men suspected
of taking part in the failed 21 July attacks are being questioned by police
in London. There are eight others still in custody in London. Scotland Yard
forensic teams are also studying items seized from 14 addresses in London and
two in Birmingham.
- Osman Hussain, who is suspected of attempting to bomb a train near Shepherd's
Bush station in west London, appeared before Italian magistrates on Saturday
for an initial extradition hearing. He denied the failed bombers wanted to kill
anyone but they wanted to make "a show" and "spread terror".
He also denied any connection to al-Qaida." He is the first suspect to
whom Italy is applying the rules of the newly created European Arrest Warrant,
allowing speedier transfer of suspects between EU states.
- The five men suspected of trying to explode bombs in London on July 21 were
motivated by anger over the Iraq war, not by religion, Osman Hussain told Italian
judges following his arrest in Rome on Friday July 29, 2005. Heis also denied
the group was linked to the July 7 bombers but said its members saw those atrocities
as a "signal" to stage their own attacks. The men, all immigrants
to Britain from East African states, watched films about the Iraq war -"especially
those in which you saw women and children killed and exterminated by the English
and American soldiers, or widows, mothers and daughters who were crying."
- Osman Hussain, also known as Hamdi Isaac, had no links to large terrorist
organisations, Italian police said on August 1, 2005. Officers in Rome said
he had lied about his background to gain a UK passport. Italian judges have
two months to decide whether he should be extradited.
- On August 6, 2005, three men charged in connection with the 21 July failed
bombs have been remanded in custody until 11 August. The men are Shadi Sami
Abdel Gadir, 22, Omar Nagmeloin Almagboul, 20, and Mohamed Kabashi, 23, all
from Brighton. They are charged with failing to disclose information to police
investigating the attempted attacks on London's transport network. Two women
and a man have already appeared in court on similar charges.
- A Muslim leader, Dr Mohammed Naseem, chairman of the Birmingham Central Mosque,
said on August 6, 2005, there are "similarities" between new powers
to tackle Islamist extremism and Hitler's demonisation of the Jews. Tony Blair
wants measures to exclude foreigners who preach hate and to close places where
terrorism is condoned.
- A Briton held in Zambia on suspicion of terrorism has been deported to the
UK on August 7, 2005. Haroon Rashid Aswat is suspected by US officials of involvement
in a plot to set up an al-Qaida training camp in Oregon.
- On August 6, 2005, failed 21 July bombings suspect Yasin Omar has been charged
with conspiracy to murder London transport passengers and possessing an explosive
substance. He will appear at Bow Street magistrates on Monday. An unnamed man
arrested in Finchley, north London, on 2 August in connection with the failed
attacks, was released on Saturday.
- Four men charged with planning the failed 21 July London attacks have been
remanded in custody by magistrates on August 8, 2005. Bomb suspects Ibrahim
Muktar Said, 27, Yassin Hassan Omar, 24, and Ramzi Mohamed, 23, are charged
with attempted murder and possessing explosives. One charge faced by Manfo Kwaku
Asiedu, 32, relates to an unexploded device found two days after the bomb attempts.
They are also charged with conspiracy to murder; they will next appear in court
on 14 November. Mr Said is accused of the failed Hackney bus bombing; Mr Omar
and Mr Mohammed are accused over the attempted Tube bombings at Warren Street
and Oval respectively. Mr Asiedu is charged with conspiracy to murder and conspiracy
to cause explosions, in relation to the unexploded device found at Little Wormwood
Scrubs Park on 23 July.
- Three other men -Siraj Yassin Abdullah Ali, Wharbi Mohammed and Asias Girma-
appeared before the court charged with assisting in evading arrest and were
remanded until 11 August. Mr Ali is accused of failing to disclose information
about Ibrahim Muktar Said and Yasin Omar, and assisting Mr Said in evading arrest.
Wharbi Mohammed is accused of failing to disclose information about Ramzi Mohamed
and assisting Mr Ramzi in evading arrest. Asias Girma, 20, is accused of failing
to disclose information about a terrorist.
- A fifth suspect, Osman Hussain - also known as Hamdi Isaac - who is alleged
to be the failed Shepherd's Bush bomber, is in custody in Italy. Shadi Sami
Abdel Gadir, 22, and Omar Nagmeloin Almagboul, 20, and Mohamed Kabashi, 23,
Brighton, have been accused of failing to disclose information that could have
helped police investigating the July 21 attacks.
- Three other people - Yeshiemebet Girma, the wife of Mr Hussain, her sister
Mulumebet Girma, and Ismael Abdurahman- have also been charged under the Terrorism
Act 2000 with failing to disclose information.
- Radical Jordanian cleric Abu Qatada and nine other foreign nationals suspected
to pose a threat to the UK's security have been detained on August 11, 2005,
pending deportation. He, and at least two others, had previously been held at
Belmarsh Prison without charge. It follows an agreement between the UK and Jordan
that deportees would not be persecuted. Human rights groups say their safety
after deportation is not guaranteed. In a separate development the radical cleric
Omar Bakri Mohammed has been arrested in Beirut, Lebanon.
- Ten people accused of withholding information about those suspected of the
failed 21 July bomb attacks on London have appeared in court on August 11, 2005.
Six have also been accused of assisting a person to evade arrest. They included
the wife of Shepherd's Bush bomb suspect Osman Hussain, Yeshiemebet Girma, and
her sister, Mulumebet Girma. They were at Bow Street Magistrates' Court and
later remanded in custody.
- On August 12, 2005, radical Islamic preacher Omar Bakri Mohammed has been
expelled from the UK. Home Secretary Charles Clarke used existing powers to
expel Mr Mohammed as his presence was "not conducive to the public good".
Meanwhile the cleric was freed by the authorities in Lebanon a day after he
was arrested at Syria's request. He was seized after a TV interview in which
he said he would not return to Britain as a persona non grata, only as a visitor.
- It would be "very, very surprising" if the two London bombings in
July were not connected, Home Secretary Charles Clarke said on August 16, 2005,
but there was "not a direct linkage formally established yet".
- Leaked documents published August 17, 2005, contradict the official account
of how police mistook a Brazilian man for a suicide bomber, and shot him. They
suggest he was restrained before being shot eight times. The Independent The
documents, including witness statements, suggest Mr de Menezes did not hurdle
the barrier at Stockwell tube station, and was not wearing a padded jacket that
could have concealed a bomb. The family of Mr de Menezes has called for a public
inquiry into his death.
- On August 17, 2005, an Italian court has approved the extradition within 35
days of Hussain Osman, also known as Hamdi Issac, a suspect wanted in connection
with the failed bomb attacks in London on 21 July. He will fight the decision
at the Italian Supreme Court, his lawyers say. The 35-day delay before Mr Osman's
extradition is to allow Italian police the opportunity to finish their own investigations
into his activities.
- Lawyers for the family of a Brazilian man shot dead by police asked the Independent
Police Complaints Commission on August 18, 2005, to speed up its inquiry. Investigation
papers suggest a surveillance officer restrained the Brazilian electrician before
being shot eight times on 22 July.
- Relatives of the Brazilian man killed by police on the Tube have demanded
the resignation of London's top officer and the prosecution of those responsible
on August 19, 2005. They accused Met Police chief Sir Ian Blair of lying about
aspects of the shooting, and of attempting a cover-up. Brazilian investigators
are to fly to London next week for talks with the Independent Police Complaints
Commission (IPCC) to clarify conflicting reports of how he died at Stockwell
station.
On December 14, 2005, the UK prime minister has defended the government's
decision not to hold a public inquiry into the 7 July London bombings, amid
heavy criticism. Victims' representatives, opposition MPs and Muslim leaders
said an inquiry was needed for lessons to be learned. Ministers have said
they will instead publish a definitive account of what happened, in a written
narrative.