Print

Mail

wiki links

UK police raid homes in Leeds in terror probe

Military officers blasted their way into a home in northern England in what they said was a search for explosives, following a series of raids linked to last week's London bombings.

Police said 500 people were evacuated from the area and the streets were cordoned off. Hours earlier, police searched five residences elsewhere in the northern city of Leeds, 300km north of London, but there was no immediate word of any arrests.

Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Ian Blair said the raids, which began about 6:30am were connected to the massive investigation of last Thursday's attacks on three subway trains and a bus that killed at least 52 people.

"There have been a series of searches carried out in Yorkshire. Those searches are still going on. There's very little else I can say at the moment, but this activity is directly connected to the outrages on Thursday," Blair said in an interview with BBC radio.

Metropolitan Police described the raids as part of an "intelligence-led operation."

The police chief expressed confidence that detectives would crack the case.

"Our track record is that there has scarcely been a terrorist outrage in London for which we have not found people responsible," Blair said in the BBC interview.

"This is much more difficult than Irish republican terrorism, but it is still something the communities of Britain can defeat if they join together," he said.

Progress was also reported yesterday in the process of identifying people who may have been directly responsible for one of the four explosions.

The Times said forensic pathologists have been concentrating on the remains of two bodies found in the mangled wreckage of the bus that was destroyed last Thursday.

The report quoted an unidentified senior police source as saying: "There are two bodies which have to be examined in great detail because they appear to have been holding the bomb or sitting on top of it. One of those might turn out to be the bomber."

The Financial Times said progress has been made in identifying an individual suspected of being directly responsible for the bus explosion.

Quoting an unidentified European security official involved in the probe, the Financial Times said: "I think we are going to see photographs of one or more suspects being posted within days."

The Metropolitan police refused to confirm either news report, saying that it has a policy of keeping quiet about its investigations to avoid tipping off potential suspects.

Police are reviewing more than 2,500 closed-circuit television tapes in search of anything that could provide a break. Detectives also have urged the public to e-mail any digital photos or videos they took at the bombing scenes.

British press reports have said Mustafa Setmarian Nasar, a Syrian suspected of being al-Qaeda's European operations chief and the alleged mastermind of the Madrid railway bombings that killed 191 people in March last year, was a possible suspect in the London bombings.

But a senior Spanish Interior Ministry official said there was no evidence to implicate Nasar.

Prime Minister Tony Blair on Monday promised a relentless manhunt.

"We will pursue those responsible -- not just the perpetrators but the planners of this outrage -- wherever they are, and we will not rest until they are identified, and as far as is humanly possible, brought to justice," he told parliament.

Yesterday the prime minister signed the book of condolences at City Hall.

Meanwhile, the names of two more bombing victims were released yesterday.

The families of financial adviser Jamie Gordon, 30, and Philip Stuart Russell -- whose 29th birthday would have been on Monday -- said the two men were on the No. 30 bus that exploded near Tavistock Square.

Two other victims had also been identified but the families did not give permission for their names to be released.

Forensics experts have warned it could take days or weeks to put names to the bodies, many of which were blown apart and would have to be identified through dental records or DNA analysis.

Meanwhile, Queen Elizabeth II has made a "substantial donation" to a fund set up to help the families of people killed and injured in last week's terror attacks, Buckingham Palace said yesterday.

Without confirming the sum given, a spokeswoman said the monarch recognized that the aftermath of the terrorist bombings would lead to financial hardships.

The fund was set up by London Mayor Ken Livingstone and the British Red Cross to provide assistance to the dependents of people killed in the four explosions.

also see story:
Muslims face attacks, resentment after terror strike

This story has been viewed 2198 times.