A week after the attack, the British police have made headway with the identities of the suspects responsible for the London bombings and are trying to piece together their movements before and after the four met at Kings Cross Station. They are now stuck with four and possibly five suspects, a few clues about their lives, some explosives and no story as to how these ordinary Britons transformed into cold-blooded bombers willing to die in this horrific way. More critical is that the police are asking the public if they recall seeing Hasib Hussein (the bus bomber) on that day meeting anyone else and or getting on the bus to call their hotline 0800 789 321.
Though the police have confirmed two names – that of Shehzad Tanweer, 22 who died aboard the train at Aldgate, and the bus bomber Hasib Hussain, 18, they have found property pertaining Mohammad Sidique Khan at Edgware station but are unable to say whether he died. The fourth suspect, who died at King’s Cross Station, is understood to be Lyndsey Germail/Jamal, a Jamaican born who lived in Aylesbury. Meanwhile, the police have circulated to the media, a recent photo of Hussain and CCTV images of him at Luton train station at 7.20am and are expected to release later today CCTV footage and close shots of the others. Besides, these suspects the police are trying identify a man seen bidding farewell to the four bombers at Luton station and an Egyptian named Magdy El Nashar, in whose apartment the explosives were found in Leeds.
The investigations now have the broader objective of identifying the people “who supported, who financed, who trained and who encouraged” the bombers, which includes a fifth suspect and accomplices, who helped construct the bombs and master mind the attacks. A crucial question they are keen to address is where the suspect Hasib Hussein was between the time he left Kings Cross station and the time he detonated the bomb aboard the bus at Tavistock square and why he chose to travel by bus while the others blew themselves aboard trains. They believe the teenager Hasib Hussein might have changed his plans in the last minute. The bus number 30, which was diverted mid-way due to the explosion at King’s Cross, started from Marble Arch at 9am, touching Gloucester Place by 9.05am, Marylebone Road by 9.10am and Euston Road by 9.30am before exploding at Tavistock Square at 9.47am.
The investigation that earlier resulted in searches and raids in Leeds, Aylesbury and Luton now has also moved to Pakistan, where the authorities are being helpful with information about local connections. They also are going through the finest details of 500 witness statements and over 5,000 CCTV tapes to find the smallest of clues. While the results of the public side of the investigations are widely visible, the covert “intelligence” side is starting to catch pace, but little will be known of this. The FBI in the United States are also helping investigators in tracking down the whereabouts of the Egyptian chemist Magdy El Nashar, who is believed to have passed out from North Carolina State University and currently missing.
Meanwhile London experienced a sombre calm with traffic grinding to a halt as Big Ben chimed noon and Britons nationwide observed a two minute silence remembering those who died in the attacks. George Psaradakis, the driver – survivor of the bus bomb said “As we stand together in silence, let us send a message to the terrorists — you will not defeat us and you will not break us”. The silence echoed across Europe, as other cities shared the moment with London, some even recalling memories of their own tragedies. For the 54 who died so far from the attacks, the two minutes amounts to eternal silence of suffering a death without understanding why.
