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07/14/2005:
"The Making of a Cover Story"
Hunt for terror cell widens with fresh raidAnti-terrorist police were on Thursday carrying out a forensic search at a semi-detached house in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, in the strongest signal yet that investigators believe the bombers may have had connections with the area just north of London. Aylesbury is 22 miles from Luton where a car, said to have been used by the suicide bombers, was found.
...Evidence that at least two of the men had travelled to Pakistan raised the possibility that they originally received instructions and may have been trained by al-Qaeda there.
...The uncle of one of the bombers, Shehzad Tanweer, 22, blamed "forces behind" his nephew for the attacks. Bashir Ahmed said his nephew, who came from Leeds, was "proud to be British". He said it was hard for the family to accept their son had caused such loss of life. "It wasn't him. It must have been forces behind him."
The other bombers were named as Hasib Mir Hussain, 18, also from Leeds, and Mohammed Sadique Kahn, 30, a father-of-one who lived in nearby Dewsbury. The fourth man has not been named, but is believed to match the profile of the other three. Security camera footage and other intelligence suggest the four knew each other well.
...As police hunted for a "fifth man" and possible mastermind behind western Europe's first suicide bomb attacks, the prime minister also took fresh steps to increase dialogue with the British Muslim community and called for an international effort to mobilise the "moderate and true voice of Islam".
...Building on the strong cross-party consensus since the attacks, Mr Blair said the government would shortly meet with the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats to get prompt backing for legislation aimed at preventing another terrorist strike.
Mr Blair has already said he wants to enact legislation to allow the prosecution of people caught preparing an act of terrorism. The prime minister on Wednesday said legislation would also be aimed at allowing prosecution of those involved in "incitement and instigation" of such acts.
Full: ft.com
THE TEACHER BOMBER
One of the bombers who brought carnage to London taught disabled children, it has emerged.
Mohammed Sadique Khan, 30, of Dewsbury, was a supply teaching assistant who taught disabled children in Beeston, it has been revealed.
A picture of him carried on the front page of The Times shows the bearded bomber caring for young children at the school.
The news came as police told Sky News they were hunting a fifth man involved in the plot to kill 52 people in Britain's first suicide strikes.
Sky News' crime correspondent Martin Brunt said: "Police have to assume that there were others working with these four."
Full: www.sky.com
Hasib Hussain: The boy who grew up to bomb the No 30 bus
...He was the tallest boy in his class. Hasib Hussain, aged 10, in his final year at Ingram Road Primary School in Holbeck, Leeds, was already showing signs of being a promising athlete and had ambitions to be a professional cricketer. But he was always an unassuming child.
A few years later, however, Hussain was to become one of Britain's first home-grown suicide bombers at the age of 18. One week ago yesterday, he told his mother he was going to London with friends for the night. Once there, he boarded a No 30 bus and detonated the last of the four bombs that shook the capital.
..."He was really into cricket and football. We would get together every weekend, then they closed the pitch down. I never saw him much after that until six to eight weeks ago," said a friend.
It seems he thought he had found Islam. He grew a beard and began dressing in traditional Muslim clothes. When he was last spotted by the friend he had shaved off his beard. Al-Qa'ida analysts have claimed that may be a sign of a radicalised Muslim's intention to become a terrorist.
Full: independent.co.uk
On the BBC this morning I heard one of Hussein's friends who had played cricket with him the day before he died. Maybe that's how a suicide bomber prepares for heaven. The dead can't defend themselves.
Pakistanis going to Pakistan...hmm...now that's suspicious. A few days ago they said the bombs had timers which were synchronized, and now they've found a bunch of sorry fall guys, a most unlikely lot, but certain to ramp up the anxiety level in England to a nearly intolerable degree, prompting people to accept the end of civil government. Blaming kids and positing a shady 'mastermind' conveniently disappeared to parts unknown. It's a load, and the tragic thing is that people will believe it, because the alternative is unthinkable for most. 9-11 has taught those who suspect the unthinkable. Thousands of them.
