London blasts may have Pak link

[allemand]

LONDON: The terrorists, who carried out Thursday's serial bomb blasts in London, may have been from a gang of young and well-educated British Asians, who went to Islamic schools in Pakistan, after graduating from Britain.

But, not enough evidence had been collected to arrest them, though in order to establish their links with al Qaeda, intelligence agencies have in the past, monitored phone calls between them and al-Qaeda in Afghanistan, The Sun reported.

Said to be in their 20s, these Muslim extremists are graduates who completed their college education in the UK and then went to Islamic schools in Pakistan near the Afghan border, the paper quoted a US security source as saying. (...)

Security men feel that the terrorists were 18-20 in number. Professor Michael Clarke of King's College London was quoted as saying that planting a string of bombs "would require a cell of at least 18 to 20 people".

More:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1165570.cms

Of course, "Pak link" (this is The Times of India, after all...) has to be replaced by "home-grown" in a British context.

[ck4829]

1. Bush: "Pakistan eh, time to go to war with... IRAN!"

[opihimoimoi]

2. or Venzuela, or Tuva, or Tonga even......thats his MO

[jsamuel]

3. don't forget N. Korea!

OR POLAND!!!

[aquart]

8. Yup.

[muriel_volestrangler]

4. The story is based on a report in The Sun

and so should be taken with a pinch of salt. When The Sun says "may have been", think "it is theoretically possible", not "there is evidence".

[mrfrapp]

5. The Sun

Considering that the headline in the Sun today was "Suicide Bomber on the No30" I think it's safe to say The Sun are more interested in making stuff up and inciting religious hatred.

I'm from the Liverpool area of England and I've never forgiven them for the appalling manner in which they handled the Hillsborough disaster.

[htuttle]

6. It might not be so farfetched

Wonder if Pakistan's ISI has a connection to this one, too? (as they did to the 9/11 attacks).

They seem to be the black-bag bully boys for somebody out there -- but who? (oh, I have some theories about who...).

[allemand]

7. Prof Clarke: bombers may have been "home grown sleepers" (The Guardian)

Prof Clarke said a group that planted four bombs to go off within an hour might have been as small as eight or 10, but was more likely to number between 20 and 30. In addition to people with the skills to make bombs and detonators, the sites will have been reconnoitred repeatedly in the months before the attack.

The London bombings look similar to those in Madrid in March 2004, and Spanish police are still seeking about 10 people they believe were linked to the attacks, he adds.

Alternatively, the bombers may have been "home grown sleepers" with good local knowledge. MI5 has been warning about this possibility for some time. Surveys have suggested that between 10% and 15% of Muslims in the UK are sympathetic to the idea of attacks against the US, and even if the number fanatical enough to take action is tiny, this is enough. Zealots are protected in a wider community of sympathisers who keep quiet or even allow their premises to be used, as has been seen over the years with the IRA and the Catholic community in Northern Ireland.

Prof Clarke said (...) said militants in the UK who lack bomb-making skills may have made contact with the loose knit al-Qaida network for expertise and help. Quickly realising that mobile phone records enabled the security forces to trace them, these meetings are conducted face to face by messengers like Jamal Zougam, who was picked up in Spain after Madrid and was known to have visited the UK.

More:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/attackonlondon/story/0,16132,1524429,00.html?gusrc=rss