down with murder inc

This is a strange story from June 21 2005
There is a linking between raids in Manchester -
'Al-Queda' & 'Suicide Bombings' and 'Iraq'

UK arrest in Iraq attacks probe
21 June, 2005 - A man has been arrested in Manchester in connection with suicide bomb attacks on coalition forces in Iraq. He was taken into custody after a raid by 30 police officers on a house where he had been living in Great Southern Street, Moss Side, at about 0500 BST. Police said he was an associate of a man who had lived at the same house and is believed to have gone to Iraq in February to carry out a bombing.
The arrest was not related to any threat in the UK, police added. There were arrests in Spain and Germany last week over the sending of suicide bombers to Iraq, although there is no evidence of a link.

'Established network'
A Greater Manchester Police spokesman said: "Since the beginning of the year, there have been a series of suicide bombings against coalition forces in Iraq.
"This operation involved two suspects, one who used to live at the address in Great Southern Street before he travelled to Iraq to take part in a suicide bomb attack, and the other who was still living at the address until his arrest this morning."
The nationality of the 40-year-old man has not been revealed. Whitehall officials said they were already aware of an established network which sends "jihadist" volunteers from the UK to Iraq to fight coalition forces. BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner said the volunteers were mostly north African, and often carried European passports. After the arrest, police distributed leaflets in the surrounding area to reassure residents.
They said the arrest related to "an individual who once lived in the area was involved in a terrorist incident in Iraq earlier this year".
"There is nothing to indicate that at any time there has been any threat to the community of Greater Manchester."

UK arrest in Iraq attacks probe

Well-planned operation
Neighbour Andrew Holmes, 43, said: "What I heard first was 30 coppers or thereabouts making a lot of noise and kicking someone's front door in next door but one.
"About half an hour later, someone was arrested. This was about 4.30am or 5am.
"It was a well-planned operation with a lot of police in the vicinity blocking off streets and so on."
Mr Holmes added: "I knew of the man but didn't really speak to him. He kept himself to himself. I certainly didn't know him well. He was an average-looking guy.
"I think he had lived there for about two years but I'm not sure." - BBC FEAR

Yet more strange connections are made

Iraq creating new breed of jihadists, says CIA
June 23, 2005 The Guardian - The war in Iraq is creating a new breed of Islamic jihadists who could go on to destabilise other countries, according to a CIA report.

Ewen MacAskill, Duncan Campbell and Richard Norton-Taylor
The CIA believes Iraq to be potentially worse than Afghanistan, which produced thousands of jihadists in the 1980s and 1990s. Many of the recruits to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida had fought in Afghanistan. The sobering caution came as a senior British anti-terrorism source warned that those trained in terror techniques in Iraq could use their newly-acquired skills in Britain at the end of the war. The CIA report, completed last month, remains classified. But a CIA source yesterday confirmed that its broad conclusions, disclosed by the New York Times yesterday, were accurate. The concern expressed in the CIA report contrasts with the optimism of US defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld two years ago when he welcomed the prospect of Iraq as a magnet for jihadists.
The Foreign Office and British security services are sceptical about the CIA assessment that the insurgency could spill into other countries. Security sources said that there was only a "trickle" of recruits from Britain joining the insurgency in Iraq. If there was to be a spill-over, Saudi Arabia is potentially vulnerable because many of the Arab fighters in Iraq originate from there. Jamal Khashoggi, media adviser to the Saudi ambassador in London, said yesterday he agreed in part with the US assessment.
"It will be worse than Afghanistan," he said. "We are talking about a very brutal type, a very weird version of Islam in Iraq. It is very scary."
Mr Khashoggi predicted the approach of the Saudi government towards jihadists returning from Iraq will be very different from those returning from Afghanistan and Chechnya. "Any al-Qaida coming back from Iraq will be hunted. It is not like they have gone to Chechnya and will be coming back as heroes. If they come back from Iraq and brag about it, they will be snatched by security in a day or two."
The CIA report suggests the new breed of jihadists will be more deadly than those who fought in Afghanistan. It said that they have learned skills in urban warfare in Iraq. While the number of Iraq attacks have diminished, they have become more deadly. More than 1,000 Iraqis and 120 US soldiers have been killed since the new Iraqi cabinet was formed in April. Insurgents once again demonstrated their capacity for inflicting carnage on civilians when they detonated four cars bombs in western Baghdad last night, killing at least 23 people and injuring around 50. At least one was driven by a suicide bomber.
Earlier a bomb attack on a US military patrol killed three civilians. It was claimed by the al-Qaida group led by Abu Musab al Zarqawi. There are about 200 individuals in Britain who are suspected of having received training in camps in Afghanistan and Chechnya. Senior anti-terrorist officials suggest many fewer have gone to Iraq.
Ken Jones, the chairman of the Association of Chief Police Officers' terrorism committee and chief constable of Sussex, said yesterday Britain would remain a prime target. "There is an inevitable targeting of the United Kingdom and UK interests abroad," Mr Jones told a conference on terrorism organised by the Royal United Services Institute in London. "The threat will endure for the foreseeable future." But he added: "it is not inevitable that they will succeed."
Mr Jones noted that those involved in terrorism no longer necessarily came from the "excluded and marginalised" but were increasingly "highly intelligent, educated young people". In past terrorist campaigns, he said, there had been a clear goal or aim. The new form of attacks required a different response. One of the most important ways to combat the growth of terrorism, he suggested, was by encouraging "confident communities" - a clear reference to Britain's Muslims -that would be aware of suspicious activities and would feel confident in reporting them.
Police in Manchester were last night given another 48 hours to question a 40-year-old man of north African origin, who was arrested under the Terrorism Act on Tuesday. It is believed that the man had shared a house in Moss Side with Idris Bazis, 41, a French-Algerian with a French passport, who blew himself up in a suicide attack in Iraq in February. Anti-terrorist sources say there is no link between the Manchester arrest and recent arrests of 11 men in Spain suspected of being connected with the Iraq insurgency.
Parents of 17 British soldiers killed in Iraq called today in a letter to The Guardian for an independent inquiry into the decision to go to war in Iraq - guardian.co.uk

A week later:

Man held over Iraq bomb is freed
27 June, 2005,
A man arrested in Manchester in connection with a suicide bombing in Iraq has been released by police.
The 40-year-old, who was not named, was held under anti-terror laws in the Moss Side area of the city last Tuesday.
Police said he was thought to have shared a house with a French man suspected of an attack on coalition troops in February 2005.
Releasing him, police said inquiries would continue, but the man posed no direct threat to the public. - BBC stoopid

considering the above stories: Why was Britain's threat level downgraded?

Information on terrorism is processed by Ml5's Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre (JTAC). In June, JTAC downgraded the threat level because it deemed that the risk of an attack was at its lowest point since 9/11. There are seven threat levels, and on July 7 Britain was on "substantial," which is the fourth level behind "severe general," "severe specific," and "imminent."
The only public indication that this decision had been taken came in a report in the Financial Times of June 7, which explained, "In an advisory note to leading businesses in recent days, the terrorist threat has been downgraded from its second highest level 'severe general' to a lower category of 'substantial.' [The Financial Times is apparently in error in calling "severe general" the second highest threat level.-editor].
"Under a system agreed by the security service two years ago, businesses receive written risk assessments and regular briefings on terrorist threats. These are not made public." - Unanswered questions in London bombings By Chris Marsden 11 July 2005

Flashback:

front page headline

Suicide Bombers? carrying bombs with timers?
This is getting confusing...are the press 'quoting police sources'? just guesswork? or disinfo?

another report; from the 9th July...

Train bombs triggered by timers
By James Button, Annabel Crabb and Peter Munro - London July 9, 2005
Two of the three bombs that exploded in the London Underground on Thursday were fitted with timer devices left in packages on trains, police said yesterday, as they embarked on a massive manhunt for the terrorists who claimed at least 50 lives and left more than 700 people injured.
Speculation persisted that a suicide bomber detonated the fourth and last bomb on a double-decker bus after an eyewitness saw an "extremely agitated" young man fiddling in his bag minutes before a bomb ripped the bus apart.
Yet Police Commissioner Sir Ian Blair said that while he could not rule out a suicide bombing, there was "nothing to suggest" it. A security source said the device may have exploded after the bomber failed to reach a Tube station in time. A security source said the bombed bus was believed to contain traces of the same explosive used in the Madrid train bombings last year - suggesting a co-ordinated European network.
London's Evening Standard last night released the first names of people missing. They included tour guide Mike Matushita, 37, financial administrator Jamie Gordon, computer analyst Neeta Jain, 36, and Ciaran Cassidy, 22.
An Australian High Commission spokesman said eight Australians were injured, two of them critically, with the figure likely to climb. Six of the casualties were from NSW and five were women. One woman was from Victoria and one man from Queensland.
The blasts came without warning and will raise questions about security services after London's terror alert was reduced last month to its lowest level since September 11, 2001.
Although Scotland Yard had long warned that an attack on London was almost inevitable, many senior security figures and police had been deployed to Gleneagles for the G8 summit.
London has long been resigned to the likelihood of a terrorist attack, with mayor Ken Livingstone saying in March: "We know that one day a terrorism group will get through and will claim lives. Our job is to make it as difficult for them as we can." As the Underground returned to normal service yesterday, interrupted by several closures because of suspicious packages, British Prime Minister Tony Blair said that the best way to defeat terrorism was for people to get on with their lives.
[snip]
The terrorists were "trying to use the slaughter of innocent people to cow us, to frighten us out of doing the things that we want to do, trying to stop us from going about our business," Mr Blair said. "They should not and they must not succeed."
Former New York mayor Rudolph Giuliani Spoke of the "eerie" experience of being in London near one of Thursday's blasts. "My heart goes out to the people affected by this. It reminds me so much of September 11," he said.
As an al-Qaeda group claimed responsibility for the attacks, Home Secretary Charles Clarke admitted that security services were "looking for very small needles in a very large haystack. London is a very large haystack".
Of the four blasts, the bomb at Aldgate underground station went off in the third carriage when the train was 100 metres inside the tunnel.
On the train travelling between King's Cross and Russell Square stations, the bomb was in the standing area by the first set of double doors in the first carriage. At Edgware Road, the explosives were in the second carriage's standing area by the first set of doors.
Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said the attack bore the hallmarks of al-Qaeda. A previously unknown group called al-Qaeda's Secret Organisation Group of Jihad in Europe claimed responsibility on a website.
[snip]

Defence expert Michael Clarke, of the Centre for Defence Studies at Kings College London, said the attack would have required at least 16 people.
The Wall Street Journal quoted a European police official as saying that British police were asking "European counterparts for information on a Moroccan man, Mohammed Guerbouzi".
[snip]
Police Commissioner Blair said police did not suspend the country's mobile network following the blasts although they had authority to do so if they suspected mobile phones may be used for further attacks.
He defended the way the details about the bombing were publicised - despite it being John Howard who was the the first to publicly state the death toll was more than 50. "Nothing is being covered up, nothing is being withheld, we're giving you all the information when we get it," Police Commissioner Blair told reporters.
Former Labour MP George Galloway told a stunned House of Commons that Londoners had paid the price for the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. The independent MP said the attacks were "despicable" but "predictable," because of the war in Iraq.
But Armed Forces Minister Adam Ingram accused Mr Galloway of "dipping his poisonous tongue in a pool of blood".
Many British Muslims feared for their safety after the Muslim Council received 30,000 hate emails on Thursday. Two "very minor" incidents have been reported, Police Commissioner Blair said.

Bombs held less than 10 pounds of explosives
July 8, 2005 | LONDON -- The bombs used in London's terrorist attacks held less than 10 pounds of explosives, police said Friday -- light enough to easily tote in a bag or knapsack -- yet police found no evidence suicide attackers set them off.
They declined to respond to questions about a U.S. official's claim that evidence indicating timers were used was found in the debris. London police also played down the possibility the devices were detonated by remote control using cell phones, instead asking the public for patience Friday as their investigation picks up momentum. - salon
On July 12, The Times of London revealed that the explosives used in the London Transport bombings were military-grade explosives and investigators emphasized they believed the bombers were British and worked in small cells. Furthermore, although the British police are putting out information that suicide bombers were involved in the London bombings, Vince Cannistraro, the former CIA counter-terrorism chief, told The Guardian that "two unexploded bombs" were recovered along with "mechnical timing devices." It goes without saying that suicide bombers would not have been using timing devices.
The belief that British right-wing terrorists may have carried out the London train bombings coincides with a major Italian investigation of ties between far-right Italian groups, Italian law enforcement personnel, U.S. Defense Department covert operations agents, and Jihadist terrorists. - Wayne Madsen

"Police have based their theory that the attacks were suicide bombings largely around the fact that all four suspects died in the attacks.
The fact that one of the bombers was decapitated -- a common outcome for suicide bombers -- is also seen as supporting the theory, as well as the fact that investigators discovered no timer devices."
heraldsun.news

So why were 'timers' reported then???

The trail of destruction reached Bali in October 2003 BBC spells it out even further -
Global war
One measure of the inconclusive campaign against al-Qaeda-linked groups has been that attacks have continued to occur on a fairly regular basis.
The London attacks seem to echo closely in style and scale a series of recent bombings which have been blamed on or linked to the group (though it is not always possible to establish culpability beyond question and claims of responsibility cannot always been taken at face value).

Western Europe was struck in March 2004 with the train bombings in Madrid that left 191 dead.
Bali, Istanbul, Madrid and Casablanca have all borne the same hallmarks - multiple bombings indiscriminately targeting civilians in heavily populated areas.
The 2002 attack on night clubs in Bali, claiming 202 lives, was blamed on a Indonesian extremist group Jemaah Islamiah, which is allegedly linked to al-Qaeda.
In November 2003, Istanbul was hit by two co-ordinated attacks in 10 days, the first against synagogues and the second targeting UK interests. There have also been multiple attacks in Saudi Arabia, East Africa, and Morocco causing extensive casualties and disruption. Pakistan, Yemen and other Indonesian targets have also been hit. It has for some time been almost a commonplace to say that Britain was "due" an al-Qaeda strike like that on Madrid. Britain's unflinching support for the Bush administration's foreign policies, particularly in Iraq and Afghanistan, make it an obvious target for al-Qaeda. - BBC

Spurious information: rumours of Isreali foreknowledge

Report: Israel Was Warned Ahead of First Blast
13:30 Jul 07, '05 (IsraelNN.com) Army Radio quoting unconfirmed reliable sources reported a short time ago that Scotland Yard had intelligence warnings of the attacks a short time before they occurred.
The Israeli Embassy in London was notified in advance, resulting in Finance Minister Binyamin Netanyahu remaining in his hotel room rather than make his way to the hotel adjacent to the site of the first explosion, a Liverpool Street train station, where he was to address and economic summit.
At present, train and bus service in London have been suspended following the series of attacks. No terrorist organization has claimed responsibility at this time.
Israeli officials stress the advanced Scotland Yard warning does not in any way indicate Israel was the target in the series of apparent terror attacks. israelnationalnews

The Great Eastern Hotel, which was hosting a conference on the Israeli economy, was evacuated.
Israeli Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was due to attend the conference but had not arrived. A senior Israeli official says Scotland Yard had told Israel minutes before explosions that it had received warnings of possible terror attacks. Mobile phone networks were jammed by callers trying to reach loved ones. heraldsun.news.com

Israel not warned about blasts - foreign minister
07/07/2005 - 12:37:23 Israel was not warned about possible terror attacks in London before at least six blasts ripped through the city, Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom said today.
A Foreign Ministry official had said earlier that British police warned the Israeli Embassy in London of possible terror attacks minutes before the first explosion.
"There was no early information about terrorist attacks," Shalom told Israel Army Radio. "After the first explosion an order was given that no one move until things become clear."
Israel was holding an economic conference in a hotel over the underground stop where one of the blasts occurred. Israeli Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was supposed to attend the conference, but "after the first explosion our finance minister received a request not to go anywhere," Shalom said.
He said he wasn't aware of any Israeli casualties. Shalom speculated that attackers might have taken advantage of the fact that police resources were diverted to a meeting of Western leaders. The Israeli ambassador to London, Zvi Hefetz, said today that the embassy was in a state of emergency following the explosions in London, with no one allowed to enter or leave. Danny Biran, an Israeli Foreign Ministry official, said all phone lines to the embassy were down. The ministry has set up a situation room to deal with hundreds of phone calls from concerned relatives. Thousands of Israelis are living in London or visiting the city at this time, Biran said.
Amir Gilad, a Netanyahu aide, told Israel Radio that Netanyahu's entourage was receiving updates all morning from British security officials, and "we have also asked to change our plans."
Netanyahu had been scheduled to stay in London until Sunday, but that could change, Gilad said. - IOL
Britain's Jewish community on high alert

Israel Opportunity 2005 Conference for International Investors in London
Business Wire, June 20, 2005
TEL AVIV, Israel -- The TASE's annual conference for investment managers at international funds that invest in Israel will be held in London this year, in July 7, 2005. This is the fourth time the TASE has held the annual event in London, as part of its activity aimed at encouraging foreign investments in Israel. This year's conference will be held in collaboration with the Israeli embassy in London and Deutsche Bank.
Keynote speakers at the conference are Mr. Benjamin Netanyahu, Minister of Finance, and Mr. Moshe Tery, Chairman of the Israel Securities Authority. CEOs of the large listed companies Teva, Bank Leumi, Israel Corporation, Discount Investment, Delek Group, El-Al, Africa-Israel Investments and Makhteshim Agan will present their companies' activity. In addition, the Exchange-Traded Funds will be presented, for the first time, by Clal Finance and KSM Financial Instruments.
Ronit Harel Ben-Ze'ev, Senior Vice President and Head of the Economic Department at the TASE, commented that the London conference is an important part of the TASE's activity aimed at strengthening the ties of the TASE and the heads of leading listed companies with international investors: "Foreign investors' activity in Israel has a great deal of influence on the TASE in particular and on the capital market in general. The increase in foreign investments in TASE stocks, from $480 million in 2004 to $1.4 billion in the first five months of 2005, is an expression of investors' highly positive view of the Israeli economy."
findarticles.com

The Israel Opportunity 2005 Conference is a regular annual meeting...
someone should get a representative to demand to know why the security level was
lowered in London when this top meeting was taking place

London, Tel Aviv blasts connected
German newspaper: Explosive material used by British terrorist who blew himself up on Tel Aviv beachfront in 2003 very likely the same as that used by terrorists who staged London attacks last week, Mossad tells Brits By Roee Nahmias and Ronen Bodoni
TEL AVIV - The terror attack in London last week may be tied to a suicide bombing on Tel Aviv's beachfront in April 2003, German newspaper Bild am Sonntag reported Monday. According to the paper, Mossad officials informed British security authorities that the explosive material used in the Tel Aviv attack on Mike's Place pub was apparently also utilized to stage the series of bombings in London on Thursday.
Warning follows leader's call for attacks against U.K. targets; however, fundraising successes may dampen interest in high-profile attacks Moreover, the Mossad office in London received advance notice about the attacks, but only six minutes before the first blast, the paper reports. As a result, it was impossible to take any action to prevent the blasts.
"They reached us too late for us to do something about it," a Mossad source is quoted as saying.
'Very powerful explosive'
According to the German report, the Mossad relayed an analysis of the explosives used in the Mike's Place attack to British security officials. Mossad sources are quoted as saying there is "high likelihood" the explosives used in Tel Aviv were the same ones used in London. However, the story makes it unclear whether the Mossad is involved in any way in the investigation into the London bombings.
After analyzing the explosive material used in the Mike's Place attack, the Mossad concluded it was produced in China and later smuggled into Britain, the paper reports. The explosives were apparently stashed by terrorists connected to al-Qaeda who were able to evade raids by British security forces.
According to the newspaper, Mossad Chief Meir Dagan said the explosive in question is very powerful, and "much more lethal than plastic explosives and can be smuggled undetected due to its composition.
The Mossad was also able to determine the substance was developed and produced at the Chinese ZDF arms factory, located about 65 kilometers (about 40 miles) from Beijing, the paper reports. - ynetnews

Bullshit??

London bomb suspect reportedly visited Tel Aviv in 2003
By CRAIG WHITLOCK and KAMRAN KHAN Washington Post
7/19/2005 LONDON - One of the suspected London transit bombers visited Israel for a day in the spring of 2003, Israeli authorities have reported as part of an international effort to re-create the travels of the four men who investigators believe set off the July 7 explosions.
Mohammed Sidique Khan arrived in Tel Aviv and left the next day, senior Israeli intelligence officials have told Israeli reporters. Investigators say they have found no evidence that his trip was related to the subsequent April 30, 2003, suicide attack on a Tel Aviv cafe by two British men of Pakistani origin.
New details emerged Monday on trips that three of the four suspects made to Pakistan before the attacks. Khan and Shehzad Tanweer arrived in Karachi, Pakistan's largest city, on Nov. 16 last year on the same Turkish Airlines flight, then flew home together Feb. 7, Pakistani investigators said after reviewing immigration records.
A third suspect, Husib Mir Hussain, flew into Karachi on July 15, 2004, on a Saudi Arabian Airlines flight from Riyadh, records show. Pakistani officials said they did not know how long Hussain stayed, but his family in Leeds has told British investigators that he was gone for about four months.
With details such as these, investigators are trying to retrace the precise movements of the three men, each British natives of Pakistani descent. From Karachi, the men traveled elsewhere in the country. "The main destination in Pakistan for all three suicide bombers was Lahore," a major city near the Indian border, said a senior official with Pakistan's Federal Investigation Agency in Karachi, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
A senior intelligence official in Lahore said that Khan and Shehzad stayed at separate addresses near the city though they entered and left the country together.
Tanweer's family has said that he left Leeds to attend a religious school, or madrassa, so that he could study Arabic and the Quran. They said he intended to stay for nine months but came back early. Pakistani intelligence officials said they have uncovered evidence that all three bombers met with Islamic militants but have not given details.
Tanweer made a separate visit to Pakistan earlier in 2004 and met with Osama Nazir, who was later arrested and charged with participating in a 2002 grenade attack on a church in Islamabad, the Associated Press reported last week, citing unidentified Pakistani intelligence officials. Five people, including two Americans, died in the explosion. Pakistani officials did not say Monday whether they had found immigration records confirming the trip.
The investigation into the subway and bus bombings in London, which killed at least 55 people, including the bombers, has become increasingly focused on connections to Pakistan. Security officials in London have said they are searching for a Pakistani man who entered Britain at an English Channel port two weeks before the attacks and slipped out of the country the day before the bombings. That man, whom officials have not identified, was on Britain's terrorism watch list but was allowed to enter the country.
The purpose of Khan's trip to Israel is one of the many unknowns in the 10-day-old investigation.
Several weeks after his visit, a British-born man of Pakistani descent, Asif Hanif, blew himself up at Mike's Place, a Tel Aviv nightspot, killing three other people. Two weeks later, the body of another British citizen, Omar Sharif, who investigators said fled the bar after a bomb he was carrying failed to detonate, was found in the sea off Tel Aviv.
Pakistani officials said they were cooperating closely with British and U.S. investigators in the London bombing probe.
"Yes, you can say that the London bombers had some connections in Pakistan," Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao, Pakistan's interior minister, said Monday. "But the investigations so far here and in Britain have shown that citizens from various nations could have been involved in the attack."
In a television interview, Pakistan's ambassador to the United Nations, Munir Akram, gave a sharper assessment, saying Britain had no one to blame but itself for the bombings.
"It would be a grave mistake to point fingers at Pakistan or anybody outside your country," Akram told the BBC. "It is important not to pin blame on somebody else when the problem lies internally. Your policies in the Middle East, your policies in the Islamic world, that is the problem with your society, and that is where the problem lies as far as this incident is concerned."
Akram's comments echoed the conclusions of a briefing paper released early Monday by one of Britain's most prominent foreign policy think tanks. The report by the Royal Institute for International Affairs said that Britain's strong support for the U.S.-led invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as the United States' approach to fighting terrorism, has been "a high risk policy" that has left Britain more vulnerable to attacks at home.
British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw dismissed such criticism, saying that "the time for excuses for terrorism is over." - buffalo news

Israeli soldiers kill militant meeting Briton

14/07/2005 - 07:30:06 - Israeli soldiers killed a Palestinian militant early today while he was with a British woman in the West Bank city of Nablus, witnesses and the army said.
Soldiers broke into a house where Mohammed Alasi, 24, a local leader of the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, was meeting the woman, who Palestinian witnesses had said was a reporter. Alasi tried to flee, but soldiers shot him dead and took his body, they said.
The army said the Briton was an activist who gave refuge to militants in her home and denied she was a journalist.
Undercover forces surrounded a house and ordered a wanted militant to surrender, the army said. Soldiers shot him when he tried to escape. The body was later turned over to the Palestinians, the army said.
Palestinian police said the British woman was being questioned at her home, where she was said to be in shock. They said she was about 60, had been living in Nablus for a few years and had changed her last name to Alasi. They did not know her original family name.
The Al Aqsa group is linked to the ruling Fatah party of Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas.
Nablus, the largest city in the West Bank, is a main centre of militant activity. Israeli forces carry out frequent raids there. - IOL

By deception thou shalt do war - Mossad motto
Burned by both sides...
Over the years the Mossad has had so many strange bedfellows that the Israeli spy agency may have earned undisputed admission to the world's very oldest profession rather than merely coming in second along with other intelligence agencies.
Mossad supported South Africa's apartheid regime when no one else would, and provided arms and training for such murderous leaders as Idi Amin of Uganda, Papa (and Baby) Doc of Haiti, Augusto Pinochet of Chile, Ferdinand Marcos of the Philippines, Manuel Noriega of Panama, Nicolai Ceaucescu of Rumania, and the vicious Communist Dergue regime in Ethiopia.
In fact, because of such Mossad activities and its casual attitude toward the export of high tech weaponry, Israel sometimes finds itself on both sides of the same conflict. This has been the case in Sri Lanka, Cyprus and Bosnia. Such also has been the case with the Turks and the Kurds. This is further complicated by the fact that the divided Kurds themselves are sometimes on more than one side of an equation. - Mossad Collaboration With Both Turkey, Kurds

...and then we have this strange article
written on the day of the attacks by
an ex-head of Mossad, the Isreali Intelligence agency

Rules of conflict for a world war
By Efraim Halevi [ex- Mossad] 07/07/05 The Jerusalem Post
The multiple, simultaneous explosions that took place today on the London transportation system were the work of perpetrators who had an operational capacity of considerable scope. They have come a long way since the two attacks of the year 1998 against the American embassies in Nairobi and Dar-Es-Salaam, and the aircraft actions of September 11, 2001.
There was careful planning, intelligence gathering, and a sophisticated choice of timing as well as near-perfect execution. We are faced with a deadly and determined adversary who will stop at nothing and will persevere as long as he exists as a fighting terrorist force.
One historical irony: I doubt whether the planners knew that one of the target areas, that in Russell Square, was within a stone's throw of a building that served as the first headquarters of the World Zionist Organization that preceded the State of Israel.
It was at 77 Great Russell Street that Dr. Chaim Weizmann, a renowned chemist, presided over the effort that culminated in the issuing of the Balfour Declaration, the first international recognition of the right of the Jewish people to a national home in what was then still a part of the Ottoman Empire.
We are in the throes of a world war, raging over the entire globe and characterized by the absence of lines of conflict and an easily identifiable enemy. There are sometimes long pauses between one attack and another, consequently creating the wrong impression that the battle is all over, or at least in the process of being won.
[snip]
MUCH HAS been said in recent years about the vital need for international cooperation. There is no doubt that this is essential. Yet no measure of this will suffice and it cannot replace the requirement that each and every country effectively declare itself at war with international Islamist terror and recruit the public to involve itself actively in the battle, under the direction of the legal powers that be.
In the past, governments have been expected to provide security to their citizens. The responsibility is still there, in principle. But in practice, no government today can provide an effective 'suit of protection' for the ordinary citizen. There can be no protection for every bus, every train, every street, every square. In these times the ordinary citizen must be vigilant and must make his personal contribution to the war effort.
Private enterprise will have to supplement the national effort in many walks of life. - information clearing house
jpost.com

It was two days later that UK Police made a statement
that these bombs were simultaneous

some have called for caution in asserting this: but now 'know' that:

Tube bombs 'almost simultaneous'
The three bombs on London underground trains "exploded almost simultaneously", say police. Scotland Yard Deputy Assistant Commissioner Brian Paddick said the attacks took place within 50 seconds of each other. Technical data from London Underground disproved the earlier wider range of timings between explosions.
[excerpt from BBC report filed Saturday, 9 July, 2005, 13:44 GMT 14:44 UK ] - Terrorism experts have been arriving from Spain to support the inquiry in London, bringing expertise from the investigation into the train bomb attacks on Madrid.
Forensic search
A claim for the attacks has been made in the name of al-Qaeda - by a group calling itself the Abu Hafs al-Masri brigade.
But the BBC's security correspondent Gordon Corera has urged caution over the credibility of the claim.
Forensic teams working in Tube tunnels and at the other scenes of the blasts are taking swabs to try to determine the type of explosives used.
The roof of the number 30 bus, which was ripped off in the blast at Tavistock Square, has been removed from the scene for forensic examination. Police are also involved in one of the UK's biggest searches of CCTV footage to see if there are any clues as to the identity of the bombers.
BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner said there were a number of key questions which investigators were analysing. "One of the most important is were the bombers home-grown British terrorists or was this a hit team that came in from abroad?" he said.
One possibility being investigated was that the bomb maker was an expert who came and instructed the bombers. Another area was to see if they were "linked directly" to what was left of the core of al-Qaeda in Afghanistan and Pakistan or acting alone. - BBC

Simulataneous tube bombs
08:50 Three bombs in the London Underground explode within fifty seconds of each other
* One bomb explodes on a Circle Line sub-surface underground train number 204 eastbound between Liverpool Street and Aldgate. The explosion took place 100 yards into the tunnel on the third carriage of the train.
* A second bomb explodes on the second carriage of a Circle Line sub-surface underground train number 216 westbound at Edgware Road. The explosion on the train destroys a wall separating two tunnels causing the wall to collapse onto a train on an adjoining platform.
* A third bomb explodes on a Piccadilly Line deep-level underground train number 311 southbound between King's Cross St. Pancras and Russell Square. The explosion took place on the first carriage of the train by the first set of double doors, causing severe damage to the surrounding tunnel as well. wikipedia.org

July 9, 2005 Guardian
The three London Underground explosions occurred within seconds of each other at about 8.50am, the Metropolitan Police said today.
Brian Paddick, the deputy assistant commissioner, said the revised timings were made after reviewing technical records from Transport for London. guardian.co.uk
Saturday, 9 July, 2005 - BBC
Tube bombs 'almost simultaneous'
The three bombs on London underground trains "exploded almost simultaneously", say police. Scotland Yard Deputy Assistant Commissioner Brian Paddick said the attacks took place within 50 seconds of each other. Technical data from London Underground disproved the earlier wider range of timings between explosions. BBC

Just a co-incidence? smoked?
3 explode almost simultaneously, Bus bomb happens an hour later

July 10, 2005 - Three deadly bombs that tore through London underground trains - probably made from simple, relatively easy-to-obtain plastic explosives - detonated almost simultaneously and likely were set off by timers, authorities said yesterday in a radical retelling of events.
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; experts speculate it had initially been destined for a train. - NYPOST

Just a co-incidence? more power to 'em?

Bombs held less than 10 pounds of explosives
July 8, 2005 | LONDON -- The bombs used in London's terrorist attacks held less than 10 pounds of explosives, police said Friday -- light enough to easily tote in a bag or knapsack -- yet police found no evidence suicide attackers set them off.
They declined to respond to questions about a U.S. official's claim that evidence indicating timers were used was found in the debris. London police also played down the possibility the devices were detonated by remote control using cell phones, instead asking the public for patience Friday as their investigation picks up momentum. -salon.com
If forensics were still swabbing to trace the type of explosives on the 9th...how can an assertion of 10 pounds of explosives be made earlier?
different explosives have different properties...
would 10 pounds of C4 / RDX have a different effect than 10 pounds of industrial dynamite ? [which was said to have been stolen from a Yard & used in Madrid]

News from the USA? on the 7th?
07/08/2005 - A U.S. law enforcement official said authorities had vague information from Abu Farraj al-Libbi, reputedly No. 3 in the al-Qaida terror network, that al-Qaida was seeking to mount an attack similar to the 2004 train bombings in Madrid.
The London bombs each weighed less than 10 pounds and could be carried in a backpack, police said. Ten pounds is a relatively small bomb, although a blast's power depends more on the type of explosive than the amount.
An explosives expert said they were likely crude homemade devices set off with a simple timer.
"Any crook with ready cash could obtain this stuff if they knew where to look for it," said Alex Standish, editor of Jane's Intelligence Digest. - whdh.com

The press seem
to be having a blast....

Explosives are classified as low or high explosives according to their rates of decomposition.
Low explosives burn rapidly (or deflagrate). High explosives undergo detonation.
There is no sharp line of demarcation between low and high explosives, due to the difficulties inherent in precisely observing and measuring rapid decomposition. The chemical decomposition of an explosive may take years, days, hours, or a fraction of a second. The slower forms of decomposition take place in storage and are of interest only from a stability standpoint. Of more interest are the two rapid forms of decomposition, burning and detonation.
The term "detonation" is used to describe an explosive phenomenon whereby the decomposition is propagated by the explosive shockwave penetrating the explosive material. The shockwave front is capable of passing through the high explosive material at massive speeds.
In a low explosive, the decomposition is propagated by a flame front which travels much slower through the explosive material. The properties of the explosive indicate the class into which it falls. In some cases explosives may be made to fall into either class by the conditions under which they are initiated. Almost all low explosives can undergo true detonation like high explosives in sufficiently massive quantities.
Nitroglycerin: an unstable liquid known as dynamite when mixed into sawdust, powdered silica or most commonly diatomaceous earth, which act as stabilizers.
Acetone peroxide: A very unstable white peroxide
TNT: Yellow insensitive crystals that can be melted and molded without detonation.
RDX, PETN: Very strong explosives which can be used pure or in plastic explosives.
C4: An RDX plastic explosive plasticised to be adhesive and malleable. wikipedia.

Explosive Basics
A typical explosive consists of some explosive material, some sort of detonation device and, typically, some sort of housing. The explosive material undergoes a rapid chemical reaction, either a combustion or decomposition reaction, when triggered by heat or shock energy from the detonator.
In the chemical reaction, compounds break down to form various gases. The reactants (the original chemical compounds) have a lot of energy stored up as chemical bonds between different atoms. When the compound molecules break apart, the products (the resulting gases) may use some of this energy to form new bonds, but not all of it. Most of the "leftover" energy takes the form of extreme heat.
The concentrated gases are under very high pressure, so they expand rapidly. The heat speeds up the individual gas particles, boosting the pressure even higher. In a high explosive, the gas pressure is strong enough to destroy structures and injure and kill people. If the gas expands faster than the speed of sound, it generates a powerful shock wave. The pressure can also push pieces of solid material outward at great speed, causing them to hit people or structures with a lot of force. - howstuffworks
Notice how this educational site [see right>>>> ] mentions Iran as being in posession of C4, surely any country with a 'Military' force would utilize it...?

C4 - packs a punch
A small amount of C-4 packs a pretty big punch. Less than a pound of C-4 could potentially kill several people, and several military issue M112 blocks of C-4, weighing about 1.25 pounds (half a kilogram) each, could potentially demolish a truck. Demolition experts typically use a good amount of C-4 in order to do a job properly. To take out one 8-inch (20.3-centimeter) square steel beam, for example, they would probably use 8 to 10 pounds (3.6 to 4.5 kilograms) of C-4.
People apply C-4's explosive power toward all kinds of destruction. One common application is military demolition -- soldiers pack it into cracks and crevices to blow up heavy walls. It has also been widely used as an anti-personnel weapon, in battle and in terrorist attacks. In Vietnam, for example, soldiers used a number of C-4-based bombs and grenades. One notable weapon, the claymore mine, consisted of a C-4 block with several embedded ball bearings. When the C-4 was detonated, the ball bearings became deadly flying shrapnel (this sort of weapon was also featured in the movie Swordfish).
Unfortunately, C-4 will keep making headlines for years to come. Because of its stability and sheer destructive power, C-4 has attracted the attention of terrorists and guerilla fighters all over the world. A small amount of C-4 can do a lot of damage, and it's fairly easy to smuggle the explosive past light security forces. The U.S. military is the primary manufacturer of C-4, and it tightly guards its supply, but there are a number of other sources for similar explosive material (including Iran, which has a history of conflict with the United States). As long as it is readily accessible, C-4 will continue to be a primary weapon in the terrorist arsenal. - howstuffworks.

Police Find Explosives In 'Bombers Cars'
BBC | July 13 2005 Police forensic experts are continuing to search two cars linked to the men suspected of the London bomb attacks. Police spent 14 hours dealing with explosive devices found in one of the cars at Luton Central railway station. It was removed from the station car park at about 0430 BST on Wednesday. The station has now reopened. The cars are thought to have been left by the bombers when they travelled into London. The other car had been towed to nearby Leighton Buzzard on Thursday. Bomb squad detectives carried out 10 controlled explosions on Tuesday and Wednesday to try to make the car safe. They said they were targeting specific parts of the car in order to try to limit damage to forensic clues. Officers worked under floodlights to try to make the car safe. Hundreds of people in the area had to be evacuated.
Luton Central railway station was closed until around 0125 BST, but many commuters were unable to reclaim their vehicles until the suspect car had been removed. Police believe four men travelled from Luton to London last week to carry out the bombings, and probably died in doing so. Train disruption The cars are believed to have been hired in West Yorkshire and driven to Luton station, where three men met up with a fourth suspect. All four men are said to have been British nationals of Pakistani descent. A 200-metre cordon went up at the station at 1445 BST on Tuesday.
The areas affected by Tuesday's evacuation included Luton bus station, part of the Luton University campus and some private buildings. Trains were suspended, causing "serious disruption", a Thameslink spokesman said. Witness Javed Khan said people did not know why they had been moved out of Luton station until police handed out leaflets explaining what was happening.
"It was quite confusing for the public. Everyone thought it was a bomb scare to start with," Mr Khan told BBC News.
The leaflets explained that police believed the vehicle might be connected to the London bombings, which have claimed at least 52 lives.
"We can only apologise for the inconvenience this has caused everybody but your safety is our priority, which can only be ensured by taking this action," said Deputy Chief Constable Martin Stuart, of Bedfordshire Police.
The Mayor of Luton said Tuesday's events had damaged community relations and left Muslims in the town afraid for their safety. Haji Abid, himself a Muslim, said: "They think they are going to be targeted by the police and anti-Islamic people."

Houses raided
Mr Abid added: "I'm sad and surprised Luton is once again in the spotlight because of terrorism. "The town is very diverse with many Muslims living here but there are a few who I would not call true Muslims, they are bringing these problems upon us.
"People have been coming to me today fearful, not knowing what is going on around them."
Luton station was closed shortly after Army bomb experts carried out a controlled explosion to gain access to a house in Leeds as part of the hunt for the London bombers. The unoccupied house was one of six raided in the city.
An anti-terrorist hotline for anyone who might have information for the police has been set up on 0800 789 321. - BBC

Luton searched ...cars towed 15-20 miles from Luton to Leighton Buzzard, leaflets handed out? who printed those? and when?
Explosives in the Car? Controlled explosions?
wouldn't they have the explosives with them to use in the bombings?

"We can only apologise for the inconvenience this has caused everybody but your safety [see: FEAR] is our priority"
- Deputy Chief Constable Martin Stuart, of Bedfordshire Police.

Explosives found in the bath...?
er... is this implying via association...that terrorists are 'smelly'

Bath filled with explosives found at 'operational base' of terrorists
14 July 2005 - A bath filled with explosives has been found at a house in Leeds that was the "operational base" for the London suicide bombers. The discovery of a such a large amount of high explosives has shocked detectives and has raised fears of further attacks. The news came as anti-terrorist officers were investigating a supposed fifth member of the terrorist gang thought to be on the run in Britain. It is unclear what role the suspect played, although he is not thought to be among the al-Qa'ida planners behind the attacks who are still at large.
[snip]

None of the bombers was on MI5's "watch list" people under investigation or suspected of al-Qa'ida involvement.
A security source, however, has revealed one of the bombers did come to the police's attention during an investigation into a plot to build a large bomb near London. The source said: "One [of the men] is linked in a very detached way, but he has no profile." The connection was described as " an association" which was considered low level.
Two of the three named bombers have single convictions for extremely minor crimes for which they received a caution.
Detectives, as part of the investigation codenamed Operation Thesis, traced the gang to the Leeds and Dewsbury area in West Yorkshire, from where the bombers travelled to London on Thursday morning. Raids on homes in the Leeds area on Tuesday morning discovered what a local MP yesterday described as an operational base for terrorists. It is understood that anti-terrorist officers found a bath filled with explosives at a house in the Hyde Park Road area of Burley, Leeds.
The explosive is being examined by specialists to discover ifit matches the high grade explosive used in the London bombs. It is not known yet whether the explosive used in the attacks was from a military or commercial source.
The huge quantity of explosive found, along with other explosives left in a hire car used by the bombers and abandoned at Luton train station, has led to fears that they may have made further bombs. Greg Mulholland, MP for Leeds North West, commenting about the house where the explosives were discovered, said: "It seems that this is an operating base for them. This is where the material may have been stored."
Army experts carried out a controlled explosion to get into the house, and 600 people were evacuated from the area as armed police raided the premises. - belfasttelegraph

Explosive revelations - are the press the real conspiracy theorists?

London bombs home-made from pharmacy ingredients
EXPLOSIVES found by detectives investigating the London bombings were home-made using ingredients that can be found in high street chemists. The highly volatile explosive - acetone peroxide - has been discovered in a house in Leeds thought to have been used as a bomb-making factory. The discovery has raised fears of other British fanatics making their own explosives and following the example of the London suicide bombers. Instructions for making acetone peroxide are readily available on the internet. The home-made explosives found in Leeds are similar to those used in other al-Qaida-linked attacks. They were also used by shoe-bomber Richard Reid.
Police are hunting an Egyptian chemistry student who has fled his Leeds home as well as the suspected mastermind behind the suicide attacks. A security source said: "The explosive that has been recovered at the house in Leeds - some of it is still in there - is in fact acetone peroxide.
"It's the same kind of explosive Richard Reid had in his shoes when he tried to blow up a trans-Atlantic flight in 2001.
"This is a shocking development in the sense that earlier ideas about commercial or military grade explosive being used in the bombs themselves would therefore seem to be wrong."
He said the explosive's "extremely volatile" nature had prompted the police to widen a cordon around the house in the Beeston area of Leeds even further yesterday, as well as set up a no-fly zone. Anti-terrorist agencies are worried other "educated amateurs" could try to make more of the explosive. Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Ian Blair said today that he expected the investigation into the London bombs to uncover a "clear al-Qaida link".
Sir Ian issued a fresh warning there was a "very strong possibility" of further terrorist attacks following the blasts last week which left at least 54 dead. He said that the police effort was now concentrating on finding the handlers and bomb-makers who organised the attacks by the four suicide bombers. Detectives were today hoping that chilling CCTV pictures of a teenage suicide bomber will help bring forward new information today about the London terror attacks. - Scotsman

Mother of Satan????? are you serious?

London bombs may have been made from household chemicals
15/07/2005 - 09:47:03 - The suicide bombers who carried out last week's attacks in London may have used household chemicals to make their explosives. Most commentators had previously thought that military-grade explosives were used due to the severity of the blasts and the small size of the bombs used.
However, sources have told the media that an explosive substance called acetone peroxide was found during a raid on a house in Leeds linked to the bombers. The substance, also known as Mother of Satan due to its instability, contains ingredients that can be obtained from cleaning products, hair bleach and nail varnish remover. The compound was used by the shoe bomber Richard Reid in his failed attempt to down a US-bound passenger jet over the Atlantic Ocean in 2001. - IOL

is the new info on the explosives
based on the information
that a chemist is missing...?

'London bombs chemist' arrested in Cairo
15/07/2005 - 12:33:13 - An Egyptian scientist who police want to speak to as part of the London bombing inquiry has been arrested in Cairo, it was reported today.
Magdy Elnashar, who studied for a PhD at Leeds University, is thought to have links to a Leeds flat being searched by anti-terrorist officers.
He was detained in a suburb of Cairo, Egyptian and Western intelligence sources told the US TV network ABC News. -IOL
Note: Magdy Elnashar stresses his innocence: says he is on holiday...apparently anyone is under suspicion if they have brown skin and study chemistry...
Scientist held in Cairo over bombs
15 July 2005 - An Egyptian scientist who police want to speak to as part of the London bombing inquiry has been arrested in Cairo, it has been reported. Magdy Elnashar, who studied for a PhD at Leeds University, is thought to have links to a Leeds flat being searched by anti-terrorist officers.
He was detained in a suburb of Cairo, Egyptian and Western intelligence sources told the US TV network ABC News. The FBI had been called in to help search for Elnashar because he attended North Carolina State University in 2000, ABC News said.
Officials in Cairo said state security officials have already begun to question him and that British agents were also there. - this is london

desperate linking to Richard Reid - the shoe bomber...

London bombs home-made from pharmacy ingredients
EXPLOSIVES found by detectives investigating the London bombings were home-made using ingredients that can be found in high street chemists. The highly volatile explosive - acetone peroxide - has been discovered in a house in Leeds thought to have been used as a bomb-making factory. The discovery has raised fears of other British fanatics making their own explosives and following the example of the London suicide bombers. Instructions for making acetone peroxide are readily available on the internet. The home-made explosives found in Leeds are similar to those used in other al-Qaida-linked attacks. They were also used by shoe-bomber Richard Reid.
Police are hunting an Egyptian chemistry student who has fled his Leeds home as well as the suspected mastermind behind the suicide attacks. A security source said: "The explosive that has been recovered at the house in Leeds - some of it is still in there - is in fact acetone peroxide.
"It's the same kind of explosive Richard Reid had in his shoes when he tried to blow up a trans-Atlantic flight in 2001.
"This is a shocking development in the sense that earlier ideas about commercial or military grade explosive being used in the bombs themselves would therefore seem to be wrong."
He said the explosive's "extremely volatile" nature had prompted the police to widen a cordon around the house in the Beeston area of Leeds even further yesterday, as well as set up a no-fly zone. Anti-terrorist agencies are worried other "educated amateurs" could try to make more of the explosive. Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Ian Blair said today that he expected the investigation into the London bombs to uncover a "clear al-Qaida link".
Sir Ian issued a fresh warning there was a "very strong possibility" of further terrorist attacks following the blasts last week which left at least 54 dead. He said that the police effort was now concentrating on finding the handlers and bomb-makers who organised the attacks by the four suicide bombers. Detectives were today hoping that chilling CCTV pictures of a teenage suicide bomber will help bring forward new information today about the London terror attacks. - Scotsman
- Egyptian Took Grad Courses in N. Carolina

BBC NEWS 24 - quote -"the explosives are thought to be the same kind as used by Richard reid - a definite link to Al Queda"
Even thoiugh Tony Blair has said himself that "Al Queda is not an organisation it is a style of terror"

The "mastermind" and the "chemist"
[2 separate people]
In Leeds, another house was being searched in the Beeston area. Sources said detectives are hunting two other people known as the "mastermind" and the "chemist" in the attacks.
The Times newspaper, quoting unidentified police sources, said detectives were interested in locating Magdy el-Nashar, 33, an Egyptian-born academic who recently taught chemistry at Leeds University. The Times said he was thought to have rented one of the homes being searched in Leeds.
Neighbors reported that el-Nashar had recently left Britain, saying he had a visa problem, The Times reported. In the U.S., North Carolina State University spokesman Keith Nichols said el-Nashar was enrolled at the school for a semester beginning in January 2000 as a graduate student in chemical engineering.
Saad Khan, the chemical engineering department's director of graduate programs, said he remembered that el-Nashar applied for admission while living in Egypt. But by the end of the spring semester, el-Nashar had changed direction and decided to pursue a doctorate at Leeds instead, Khan said. A military bomb squad cordoned off half a block of the Beeston area of Leeds as unit members in camouflage fatigues expanded their systematic search of the neighborhood. One police officer, who refused to give his name, told The Associated Press the officers were going block-to-block to try to speak with anyone who might have known the suspects. Police were also making a quick examination of select homes, looking around for anything they might find suspicious. - FOX shite

No...wait 'the chemist' IS 'the mastermind'...hmm
Alleged Mastermind of London Bombings Captured
Magdy Elnashar Is Taken Into Custody Outside Cairo After Worldwide Manhunt
Sources tell ABC News that Magdy Elnashar, the alleged mastermind of the London bombings, has been captured outside Cairo, Egypt. (PA) LONDON, July 15, 2005 -- The U.S.-trained chemist who police believe is the mastermind behind last week's London transit attacks has been captured, Egyptian and Western intelligence sources tell ABC News.
Magdy Elnashar, 33, who authorities believe helped build the bombs, was taken into custody in suburban Cairo, Egypt. Elnashar had left England two weeks before the bombings, and British authorities had initiated a worldwide manhunt for him.
Police say it was Elnashar who helped the bombers set up their bomb factory in Leeds. - ABC

Chemist or Biochemist?

Hunted chemistry expert arrested
Last Updated: Friday, 15 July, 2005, 17:53 GMT 18:53 UK
An Egyptian chemistry expert sought by police over the London bombings has been arrested in Cairo, Egypt. Magdi Mahmoud al-Nashar, 33, had not been seen by colleagues at Leeds University since early July. British police are searching a house in Leeds linked to Mr al-Nashar, but have not formally named him as a suspect in their investigation. Mr al-Nashar denied having any role in the attacks and said he was on holiday, Egypt's Interior Ministry said.
Searches continue
He told investigators all his belongings remained in the UK and he planned to return there, it said in a statement.
British police are hunting the financiers, supporters and chemists who assembled the bombs which killed 51 people in London on Thursday. - BBC

Cairo holds biochemist in London bombings
Friday, July 15, 2005 Posted: 2001 GMT (0401 HKT) (CNN) --
Cairo police have arrested an Egyptian biochemist sought in connection with the London terrorist attacks, the Egyptian Interior Ministry confirmed Friday.
Magdy el-Nashar was detained Thursday night at Cairo International Airport after a request from London authorities, according to Egyptian security sources, who spoke only on condition of anonymity before the ministry confirmed the arrest.
El-Nashar "denied any relationship to what happened recently in London," the Egyptian Interior Ministry said in a written statement, adding that he is being held as Egyptian authorities continue to question him.
[snip]
'Clear al Qaeda link'
Earlier Friday, Ian Blair said he expected the investigation to uncover a "clear al Qaeda link" and warned again of the "very strong possibility" of further terrorist attacks. CNN

hasty deduction?? NO KIDDING!!! what is going on?

Egyptian suspect in London attacks not linked to Al-Qaeda: official
16 July 2005 0924 hrs CAIRO - Egyptian Interior Minister Habib al-Adly said Egyptian citizen Magdy Mahmud Mustafa Nashar, arrested in Cairo on suspicion of involvement in the July 7 London terror attacks, "has no links with the Al-Qaeda network". In a statement published Saturday by the daily Al Gumhuriya, the minister said media reports about Nashar, 33, "are unfounded and are only hasty deductions".
Adly said "the reports that British officers had interrogated him before Egyptian officials lacked details," thus not ruling out that British inquirers had taken part in the questioning. The ministry had said on Friday that Nashar "is being investigated to find out whether he was involved in the bombings that recently took place in London."
An interior ministry statement said the suspect "has denied any involvement in the London bombings."
"He said he had gone to Britain to study at Leeds University and has resided in Britain since 2000 until now to obtain his doctorate, which he did earlier this year. "He said he had come back to Egypt for a month and a half holiday and was planning to go back to Britain to resume his studies and that all his belongings are still in his flat in Leeds" the statement said, adding that "the investigation would go on."
Nashar was nabbed late Thursday in Cairo's southern suburb of Maadi, in the working class neighbourhood of Bassatin, security sources told AFP earlier Friday. The US network ABC News reported the arrest on Friday, saying a man named Magdy Nashar was the bomb-maker behind the attacks on three Underground trains and a double-decker bus that killed at least 54 people and wounded some 700.
Citing sources including the US Federal Bureau of Investigation, ABC said the detained man was suspected of having helped set up the attackers' bomb factory and left Britain two weeks before the blasts. Previous reports in Britain said police were seeking a man with a similar name who had been studying for a doctorate in chemistry at Leeds University, in the same city where three of the suspected bombers lived.
The Egyptian interior ministry said Nashar had obtained a Bachelor of Science in 1994 from Cairo University and has been a researcher at the National Research Council. British police said Friday they were "aware" of an arrest in Egypt in connection with the investigation into last week's London bombings.
"We are aware of an arrest made in Cairo but are not prepared to discuss if we may or may not wish to interview (the person) in connection with this investigation," a spokeswoman for London's Metropolitan Police told AFP. - AFP/ir

Quick!!! arrest "Boots the chemist" - Perfume used as explosives...?
alchohol used too...shut down the bars! shut down the breweries...
now this is getting silly...

UK cops uncover more evidence against bombers
London, July 18. (PTI): Jamaican-born Jermaine Lindsay, suspected to be one of the London bombers, bought designer perfumes and aftershaves as a deadly mix for the home-made devices used to trigger the attacks in the city, a media report said today.
Just days before the 7/7 explosions killed at least 55 people, the 19-year-old Lindsay spent 900 pounds at three shops on dozens of bottles of scent, The Mirror quoted police as saying.
The Gaultier fragrances were in metal containers which would have splintered into lethal shrapnel in an explosion. Lindsay bought 10.
[and how would he have exploded them...jedi mind powers?]
"The active ingredient in any perfume is alcohol which can be used in creating devices. The effect would be more incendiary, like napalm, rather than highly explosive. It would create more fire and therefore more burn injuries," terror expert Dr Andrew Silke of the University of East London.
[Molotov Cocktail anyone? er...so why didn't he buy some spirits from the off-license instead of buying shitloads of perfume which would 'raise a flag'?]
On July 4 Lindsay visited branches of the Fragrance Shop in his home town of Aylesbury, Bucks, and Milton Keynes and Woolworth's in Aylesbury, spending about 300 pounds in each store.
The following day he returned to the Fragrance Shop in Aylesbury searching for a bottle of Boss in Motion perfume he had been unable to buy at Milton Keynes.
Detectives are also investigating whether Lindsay also bought peroxide. Peroxide is an ingredient in Acetone Peroxide - also known as TATP or "Mother of Satan" - which was used in the London attacks.
Lindsay's spending patterns had already aroused the suspicion of his bank who brought in private detectives. Noel Hogan, of investigators Hogan and Co International, said: "We were aware of this man's movements in the immediate run-up to the London bombing.
"As soon as we became aware of his involvement we contacted the Anti-Terrorist Branch. We have passed them our full records. I can say no more." - hindu.com

Egypt: won't play ball

Egypt rejects chemist link to London bombings
19/07/2005 - 18:26:11 - Egypt said today that a detained chemist wanted by Britain for questioning over the London bombings had no links to the attacks nor to al-Qaida.
Government spokesman Magdy Rady was quoted by Egypt's Middle East News agency as saying that a Cabinet meeting today reviewed an interior ministry report that "made clear that there is no link between Egyptian chemist Magdy al-Nashar and al-Qaida or the (London) bombings."
Al-Nashar, who obtained a doctorate degree from Leeds University, was detained last week by Egyptian authorities at the request of the British government, which suspects that he had links to some of the four bombers, three of whom are from Leeds.
Meanwhile, Egyptian foreign minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit told parliament that he will meet with the British ambassador in Cairo to discuss the latest developments in al-Nashar's case.
Semi-official newspaper al-Ahram quoted a senior security official saying al-Nashar's innocence was revealed in questioning.
"Through interrogations carried out by Egypt, the British side was assured that al-Nashar has no role in the explosions," the paper quoted the unidentified official as saying on its front page.
El-Nashar reportedly has denied involvement in the London bombings and Egyptian security officials have said the country is not prepared to hand him over to Britain. - IOL

was Egypt punished for not playing ball?

is this why a link to a 'Foreign mastermind'
was being scrambled for?
politically useful?

So how hard is this identification process? Not very.
Within hours of the blasts, early examination of the scene by explosives experts would have already narrowed down type of explosive used. The blast velocity is the clearest indicator.
This can be determined from visual inspection of damage to metal panels and gross structures; also from close examination of the penetration power of explosive metal fragments. An experienced eye could quickly make an educated guess.
Simple chemical tests would narrrow the options still further. And mass spectrographic analysis could not only identify the explosive, but can even potentially tell how it was manufactured -by identifying contaminants in the explosives.
It is hard to imagine how it would take more than 24hrs. to be pretty certain, maybe 48hrs. to be definitive.
It's been just two weeks. - Fintan Dunne

Terror police 'still to determine bomb type'
08:10am 19th July 2005
Police are today still trying to establish the type of explosives used in the London bombings, which killed at least 56 people.
Forensic experts are scrutinising the four blast sites to determine the exact make-up of the substance and to see whether it can be linked to the home-made explosives found at a so-called "bomb factory" at a property in Leeds.
Early reports suggested the bombers had used a military plastic explosive during the attacks on the capital's transport network. It was later claimed that police had found acetone peroxide - a highly volatile mixture also known as "Mother of Satan" or TATP - in a bath during a raid on a property in Leeds.
A security source said it appeared that home-made explosives had been found at an address in Leeds - thought to be a flat in Alexandra Grove in the Hyde Park area of the city. However, the source said police were still carrying out tests to establish its exact make-up and to see whether there was any link to the substance used by the four London bombers.
dailymail.co.uk

What the Fuck!!!

China denies London explosives claim
22/07/2005 - 09:32:50 China today denied a news report that Chinese-made military explosives were used in the London underground attacks on July 7.
Chinese investigators looked into the claim by the Israeli newspaper Insider that the explosives came from a factory near Beijing and concluded the facility didn't exist, the Foreign Ministry said.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Kong Quan said the report on the Insider's website was a "rash guess" and "extremely irresponsible," the official Xinhua News Agency said.
The Israeli report cited an article in the German weekly Bild am Sonntag.
The July 7 bombings in London killed 52 people and four suspected suicide bombers.
Investigators found that the material cited in the Israeli report was not on the list of military gunpowder or explosives that China makes or exports, Kong was cited as saying.
The Israeli report said Israel's Mossad spy agency told British investigators it was likely the London bombs were made of the same substance used in a bombing in Tel Aviv in April 2003, that killed three people and injured 60.
The report said the explosive was developed and produced at the Chinese ZDF arms factory, about about 40 miles from Beijing. It didn't identify the substance.
IOL
see here

This car was one of 2 impounded...it was taken 15 miles to Leighton Buzzard...why?
Luton has a big Police Station...resources...
Apparently 9 bombs er no 12 bombs er...no hang on - 16 bombs [see below]... were found in the boot of one of the cars...
er what are these terrorists going to do...???,
come back from the dead, using their return tickets, I presume, and use these bombs?
Is this why The 2nd wave of attacks were staged? to justify further confusion...and hide behind lack of evidence

16 Nail Bombs found in Luton Car? hmm

Picture obtained by ABC News shows some additional bombs found after the July 7 attacks in London, including nail bombs

London bombers had nail bombs for 'second strike'
Last night ABC News in America screened unauthorised images of the damage left by the London bombs on July 7, and of unexploded devices found in a car parked at Luton railway station.
This is a transcript of the interview between ABC presenters Elizabeth Vargas and Pierre Thomas, and Robert Ayers, a security analyst who was shown the pictures

VARGAS: We have exclusive, new details tonight about the terrorist attacks that killed 56 people in London two and a half weeks ago. There were four suicide bombings, three in the subway and one on a bus. ABC News has learned that the bombers left behind a large stash of unexploded bombs in a car, 16 in all. ABC News has also obtained the first photographs of the wreckage those bombs caused deep in the subway tunnels. In London, here is ABC's Pierre Thomas.
THOMAS: These exclusive photographs show the devastation inside the London subway lines after the July 7 attacks. This is the train at Edgware Road where seven people were killed. Eight people died on this train between the Liverpool and Aldgate stations. And this shows the train between King's Cross and Russell Square, where 27 were killed.
AYERS: There is considerable damage there. You can see it has blown out the sides, it has blown out the roof.
THOMAS: Bob Ayers is a security consultant with expertise in explosives, based here in London.
AYERS: That was a good-sized bomb that that man took down there and set off.
THOMAS: And there is more troubling news. ABC News has learned the July 7 plot may have been much larger than previously known. Sources familiar with the investigation tell us an additional 16 bombs were found in a car, believed rented by suicide bombers Shehzad Tanweer. That car was found five days after the attacks in Luton, when the bombers boarded a train to London.
AYERS: I believe that the explosives that were left in that car were left there for a second strike. But the Metropolitan Police responded so quickly, they were able to get to the car and take control of the car before the second team could get the explosives and leave.
THOMAS: These pictures obtained by ABC News show the bombs for the first time. The bombs were made of homemade high-explosives. Some were packaged like pancakes. Some had nails for use as shrapnel. An x- ray picture of one of the bombs in the trunk of the car show a deadly concoction.
AYERS: You see what is bulging on the sides of the bottle are nails. Many, many nails. And the nails are put there so that when the bomb goes off, the nails will tear tissue and kill people in the area. Bombs don't kill by concussion. Small bombs, they kill by the blast effects of fragments of glass or metal, and this is designed to kill people.
THOMAS: So now, Elizabeth, you understand why police here in London are so deeply concerned. They are in a race against time, against people who want to kill.
VARGAS: All right.
Times Online

"Bob Ayers is a security consultant with expertise in explosives, based here in London."
an expert in explosives?....er try... INFORMATION WARFARE
Bob Ayers is director of ParaProtect, an IT security company, and the former chief information-warfare officer at the US defence department. - source 1
Robert Lee Ayers is a Director for Critical National Infrastructure Defence for Northrop Grumman Mission Systems Europe A former US DoD official, Bob now is a UK citizen

This presentation will examine the characteristics of an effective program for defending the nations Critical computing and communications systems. The audience will gain the knowledge required to understand how to construct a national CNI Defence programme. Target audience: Senior government officials.
Interestingly he differentiated between a "conventional war" and a "logical war". In his words, there is a "clear indication of victor" in a conventional war. As well, a conventional war is, as Clausewitz would agree, between nation states, whereas a logical war is not.
He uses this terminology, which some people may not be familiar with: Strategic warning: You are going to be attacked Tactical warning: You have been attacked
An interesting point he made is that with a "logical war" you have difficulty knowing how bad the problem is.
All good indicators are observable and measurable possess a state of normality are logically predictive of the anticipated event takes place sufficiently far in advance of the event to allow you to take an action
"One indicator of a nuclear attack is a bright light in the sky. However, it is not a GOOD indicator because you don't have time to respond"
He claims that logical attacks have no strategic warning and that tactical warning requires rapid data collection and effective reporting mechanisms, which are almost always missing.
Offensive IW techniques occur prior to declaration of war.
I would say that IW is also extremely hard to model - which means hard to train for! (The military motto of "train like we fight" is nearly impossible to achieve, in my opinion.)
source 2
Calling something 'national critical infrastructure' is another way of giving the military control of something civilian
source 3
BBC: HEY! Don't Look at these pictures!

"We can't be looking over each other's shoulder wondering who is leaking whose information..."

Press ignores plea by police on bomb photos
28th July, 2005 - The British media today ignored pleas by the Metropolitan police not to show pictures of unexploded bombs discovered in a car in Luton.
In a note to newsdesks, it had implored in the "strongest possible terms" not to show the pictures, which had been obtained by the US broadcaster ABC News and shown on American television. Sky News however started showed pictures of an x-ray of one of the bombs yesterday afternoon, making it clear that they pictures had been taken from ABC.
The Met issued a note saying it was "aware that ABC News has obtained a number of unauthorised images relating to the investigation into, and the crime scenes from, the London bombings of July 7 from a third party."
But it added: "We are requesting in the strongest possible terms that media organisations DO NOT publish these images or any similarly unauthorised images because they may prejudice both the ongoing investigation and any future prosecutions."
Nevertheless, the front pages of this morning's Sun newspaper, Daily Express, Independent, The Times and the Guardian all had the nail-bomb x-ray picture.
Though the police refused to confirm ABC's claims yesterday evening that there were 16 bombs in the car, many newspapers including the Sun today published the claims. - asiansinmedia.org

ABC News Release pictures of London Underground bombed carriage

This one in particular being of most interest

HMDT PSYOPS - UK US collusion
helps establish the official story

NYPD gives details of July 7 bombs
NEW YORK (CNN) -- The bombers responsible for the July 7 blasts in London used commonly available products to make their explosives, New York police have told security officials. The details were revealed in a briefing with private security officials on Wednesday.
Through a law enforcement source, CNN confirmed the information disclosed during the meeting between New York Police Department officials and security heads from an array of organizations, including financial institutions, hotels and schools. The briefing was part of an effort to increase terrorism vigilance in the city. The information was based partly on information learned by NYPD detectives dispatched to London after the bombings to monitor the investigation, the law enforcement source said.
NYPD spokesman Paul Browne said the NYPD had clearance from British authorities to present the information during the briefing.
Asked about the release of the information by the NYPD, Andy Trotter, deputy chief constable for the British Transport Police, told CNN: "It's unhelpful at the moment. It's not the sort of thing we would be releasing right now."
In Britain, Trotter said, "we tend to keep this information to an absolute minimum." But, he said, authorities are "very much focusing on what we can do right here and right now."
According to the NYPD, investigators in London believe the bombers used a peroxide-based explosive called HMDT, or hexamethylene triperoxide, which can be made with such common items as hydrogen peroxide, which is used to bleach hair; citric acid, a food preservative; and heating tablets used by the military for cooking.
Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly told those in attendance that while it was initially thought the bombers used high-end military explosives, it was "more like these terrorists went to a hardware store or some beauty supply store."
Because HMDT degrades at room temperature, the bombers preserved it in a commercial freezer that had been installed in a "flophouse" in Leeds where the material was stored, Michael Sheehan, the NYPD's deputy commissioner for counterterrorism, told security officials at the meeting. He said the presence of a refrigerator in such an incongruous setting should have been "an indicator for a problem."
British investigators also believe the bombs were transported in coolers carried by two cars to the outskirts of London, according to the NYPD, and the bombs were detonated by using alarms on cell phones that were set to go off at 8:50 a.m. Similar explosive compounds were used in four attempted transport bombings in London on July 21, although the detonators used in the second set of attacks were activated by hand, rather than timed, according to the NYPD. None of those bombs exploded.
Kelly warned the security personnel at Wednesday's meeting that the materials and methods used in the London attacks could easily be adapted for use in New York. Sheehan told them that the types of organizations with which the bombers are believed to have affiliated "are very much present in New York City."
"That's something we're studying very, very carefully," Sheehan told attendees. "This could happen here."
A law enforcement source also told CNN that the NYPD's counterterrorism and counterintelligence departments are looking into whether a sweatshirt worn by one of the suspects in the July 21 attempted bombings in London might have been a "symbolic gesture."
A surveillance photograph released by British police showed Ramzi Mohammed wearing a sweatshirt emblazoned with the phrase "New York" on the morning of the incidents. A massive security operation was under way in London on Thursday, exactly four weeks after the July 7 bombings.
Service resumed on the Piccadilly line, where 26 people died, along with the bomber, between King's Cross and Russell Square. The entire network is now back to normal service. The first person charged in Britain in connection with the attempted July 21 bombings of London's mass transport system will remain in police custody until August 11, when another hearing will be held, a magistrate ruled Thursday. Ismael Abdurahman, 23, from London, appeared in Bow Street Magistrates Court. He is accused of aiding the July 21 bombers when they were on the run. Abdurahman allegedly withheld information on the one or more of the suspects between July 23, two days after the botched attacks, and July 28, the day before two of the alleged bombers were apprehended during an armed police raid in London.
Italian authorities Thursday scheduled an extradition hearing for Hamdi Issac, charged with terrorism under Italian law, but also being held on a European Arrest Warrant from Britain. Issac is a suspect in the July 21 attempted bombings. His extradition hearing is scheduled for August 17, according to the judge's office handling the case. - CNN

Egyptian chemist cleared of London bomb links
Last Updated Tue, 09 Aug 2005 18:54:32 EDT
An Egyptian chemist who had been held for three weeks while officials questioned him about the deadly bombings on the London transit system has been set free. Egyptian chemist Magdy Mahmoud Mustafa el-Nashar talks to journalists outside his home in Cairo. (AP photo) Authorities in Egypt released Magdy Mahmoud Mustafa el-Nashar on Tuesday after finding no evidence he was involved in the July 7 bombings that killed 52 people and the four bombers. Speaking to reporters outside his home in Cairo, the 33-year-old chemist said that while he had met two of the suicide bombers, he was not involved in the plot.
The Egyptian national was living in Leeds in England at the time he met the men. He was arrested in Cairo on July 14 after British investigators told Egyptian officials they suspected he had links to the attackers. El-Nashar said he met one bomber, Jamaican-born Jermaine Lindsay, in Leeds late last year, describing him as "very kind and very nice."
He said that in June, he helped Lindsay find a new place to live. He says Lindsay then introduced him to another man who turned out to be Hasib Hussain, another of the July 7 bombers. El-Nashar has a ticket to return to Britain on Aug. 14, but he said he is afraid of how British people will treat him if he goes back. - CBC News

London Bombings Claims of responsibility
Aswat??? more 'mastermind' shenanigans