News

Jamaican was a suicide bomber - police

london (ap)

POLICE BELIEVE THEY have identified all four suicide bombers who carried out the deadly attacks on London subway trains and a bus last week, the city's police chief said yesterday.

Metropolitan Police Commissioner Ian Blair told the Foreign Press Association that police believe "that we know who the four people carrying the bombs were ... and we believe they are all dead."

"We are as certain as we can be that four people were killed and they were the four people carrying bombs," Blair said.

His comments were the first public confirmation from police that the July 7 attackers were suicide bombers. Bombs exploded on three subway trains and a double-decker bus, killing at least 53 people, including the attackers.

Identified suicide bomber

Peter Clarke, head of the Metropolitan Police anti-terrorist branch, yesterday identified the suspected suicide bomber who blew up the double-decker bus, killing 13 people, as Hasib Hussain, 18. Clarke also said Shahzad Tanweer, 22, was responsible for attacking a subway train between the Liverpool Street and Aldgate stations. Both are Britons of Pakistani descent.

News reports have identified the other two as Mohammed Sidique Khan, 30, another Briton of Pakistani descent, and Lindsey Germaine, a Jamaican-born Briton.

Blair declined to comment on those reports, and he would not say how many suspects are being sought.

"We don't know if there is a fifth man, or a sixth man, or a seventh man," he said, but added that police were trying to determine who organised the attack.

Two claims of responsibility purportedly from militant Islamic groups have surfaced.

Commenting on the possible role of al-Qaida, Blair said, "Al-Qaida is not an organization. Al-Qaida is a way of working ... but this has the hallmark of that approach."

"Al-Qaida clearly has the ability to provide training ... to provide expertise ... and I think that is what has occurred here," Blair said.

The Times of London, 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 believed to have rented one of the homes being searched in Leeds.