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Police are said to be chasing the four "would-be-bombers". (Reuters)
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LONDON,
July 22, 2005 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – British police
were Friday, July 22, urgently hunting for four presumed would-be
bombers who struck at London's transport system Thursday, in a virtual
repeat of the July 7 grisly bombings.
The
UK hunt for the presumed bombers comes as police authorities pressed
British Prime Minister Tony Blair for new sweeping anti-terror powers,
including the right to detain a suspect for up to three months without
charges.
Forensics
experts were deployed to search the three underground trains and
double-decker bus that were hit by small, near-simultaneous explosions
at lunchtime on Thursday, Reuters reported Friday, July 22.
"They're
going to be looking for the details of the bomb and any other things
that might be near it, DNA or hair," intelligence expert Crispin
Black said.
In
exactly the same pattern of the July 7 attacks, which left 56 people
killed and more than 700 injured, rucksack-based devices were placed
on three subway trains on Thursday with a fourth on a bus, all at
locations dotted around London.
Three
devices -- the one on the bus and two on Underground trains --
appeared to explode in some way, but the effect of the blasts was
minimal and no one injured.
Though
police officers declined to give details on their investigations into
the blasts, witnesses indicated that the Thursday's minor blasts were
planned as suicide attacks.
One
London businessman recounted coming face to face with a dazed man
lying on the floor of top of his smoking rucksack, seemingly in a
state of shock at still being alive, according to Agence France Presse
(AFP).
Abisha
Moyo told the Daily Mail that he was on a subway train near
Shepherd's Bush station in west London, the site of the first reported
near-simultaneous train blasts, when he was startled by a loud bang.
He
claimed seeing a young, smartly-dressed man lying face up on top of a
rucksack.
"He
had his eyes shut and there was a puff of smoke coming from the
bag," Moyo said, recounting how the man eventually regained his
senses and fled from the train.
"Dramatic
Chase"
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A list of 11 further changes in the anti-terror law were proposed by Chief Police Officers. (Reuters)
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Passengers
on trains at two other stations, Oval to the south and Warren Street
in the center, reported similar incidents.
Ivan
McCracken, on the train at Warren Street, said fellow passengers
described seeing a man carrying a rucksack which exploded.
"It
was a minor explosion but enough to blow open the rucksack. The man
then made an exclamation as if something had gone wrong. At that point
everyone rushed from the carriage."
A
similar event took place at Oval station, sparking a dramatic chase
during which the young presumed bomber wriggled free from pursuers on
the platform before being tackled by a florist just outside the
station but escaping again.
Immediately
after the Thursday's blasts, two men were arrested in connection to
the bombings but they were later released without charge, police said
Friday.
One
of the men was arrested in the Whitehall government district, while
the other was stopped near the Warren Street subway station, one of
the focal points of Thursday's failed attacks, AFP said.
Neither
was held under anti-terrorist laws, however, and they were released
overnight Thursday, a spokesman for the Metropolitan Police said.
Sweeping
Powers
During
their meeting Thursday with Blair, police authorities demanded more
sweeping powers on terror-combat, The Guardian reported Friday.
A
list of 11 further changes in the anti-terror law were proposed by
Chief Police Officers to include the right to detain a suspect for up
to three months without charge instead of the current 14 days.
The
proposed powers also include the right to attack and close down Web
sites, and a new criminal offence of using the internet to prepare
acts of terrorism, to "suppress inappropriate internet
usage".
"The
evolving nature of the current threat from international terrorism
demands that those charged with countering the threat have the tools
they need to do the job," Ken Jones, the chairman of Acpo's
terrorism committee and Sussex chief constable, told the paper.
"Often
there is a need to intervene and disrupt at an early stage those who
are intent on terrorist activity, in order to protect the public.
Clearly our legislation must reflect the importance of such disruptive
action."
British
police also urged to make it a criminal offence for suspects to refuse
to cooperate in giving the police full access to computer files by
refusing to disclose their encryption keys.
The
police further like to see much clearer information given to the
public about the threat level, the creation of a specialist border
security agency and further discussions about the use of phone tap
evidence in terrorist cases.
