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07/22/2005:

"Security services link explosives with bombs that killed 52 a fortnight ago"

Devices recovered from the scenes of Thursday's failed terrorist attacks in London bore striking similarities to material found in the wake of the July 7 bombings.

Forensic experts have not yet established the exact chemical make-up of material found in Leeds and Luton in the wake of the bombings two weeks ago that killed 52 victims and the bombers. But security sources told the Guardian that it was markedly similar in appearance to the material found in containers inside four rucksacks carried by the bombers involved in Thursday's attacks.

A source described the substance as "liquid mixed with a lump of matter".

The material used in the July 7 attacks was at first rumoured to be military or commercial explosives. But the discoveries in a car abandoned by the bombers in Luton and in a flat connected with the bombers in Leeds shifted the emphasis to home-made explosives.

It was then suggested that the substance could be acetone peroxide, possibly TATP, nicknamed Mother of Satan because of its extreme volatility. However, police sources say the substance still has not been positively identified.

...But home made explosives such as TATP degrade over time, which could explain why Thursday's bombs malfunctioned.

It is believed that the detonators on three of the bombs recovered on Thursday exploded, but failed to ignite the main explosives, while the detonator in the fourth device did not even go off.

If the explosives do turn out to be made from the same recipe it will not necessarily prove a definitive link between the two bomb gangs, but would strongly suggest that they may have been a part of the same loosely connected network.
Full: guardian.co.uk

That last paragraph is a doozy, and 'suggests' the absurdly tangential nature of all this evidence we're having thrown at us. Amazing isn't it, that 4 out of 4 bombs failed to detonate. Hmmm. Calculating the minimum of casualties for the maximum impact of fear. That way when you shoot a kid dead like a dog for jumping a turnstile nobody makes a peep. Why are you going to empty 5 shots into the torso of someone you think has a bomb wrapped around his waist?

Police Shoot Suspected Suicide Bomber
...At Stockwell Station, armed officers opened fire on the suspect after he hurdled a ticket barrier and raced along a platform.

Police screamed at passengers to evacuate and are thought to have shot the suspect as he stumbled on to a train.

Alarmed onlookers said they saw up to 10 plain-clothed officers chasing an Asian-looking man before opening fire.

Metropolitan Police chief Sir Ian Blair said the shooting was "directly linked" to ongoing anti-terrorist invetigations in the capital.

He said the man had failed to comply with instructions from police before he was shot dead.

The public should not approach these men and should dial 999 immediately if they know of their whereabouts, a spokesman said.

Witness Mark Whitby was on the train as he saw a big man wearing a large coat and "looking absolutely petrified" lurch through the doors.

Admitting to being "totally distraught", he went on: "He half-tripped, was half-pushed to the floor.

"The policeman nearest to me had the black automatic pistol in his left hand, he held it down to the guy and unloaded five shots into him."

A Scotland Yard spokesman said: "We can confirm that just after 10am armed officers shot a male at Stockwell Underground station.

"A man was challenged by officers and subsequently shot. London Ambulance Service attended the scene. He was pronounced dead at the scene."

Police are believed to be under orders to shoot to kill if they believe someone is about to detonate a bomb.

Sky News Crime Correspondent Martin Brunt said: "The officer or officers involved in this clearly felt this suspect was about to detonate a bomb."

Three eyewitnesses were taken to a nearby veterinary surgery by police before being taken away for interview.