London bombing terrorists were British

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British Muslims brace for backlash Print this page..

By Dipankar De Sarkar, Indo-Asian News Service

London, July 13 (IANS) Britain's Muslim community Wednesday prepared for further backlash after authorities revealed that at least three of the four terrorists who carried out last week's bomb blasts here were British-born Pakistanis.

The three men - all from the region of West Yorkshire, about 320 km north of London - have been named as Shehzad Tanweer, 22, his friend Hasib Mir Hussain, 19, and Mohammed Sadique Khan, 30.

All came from respectable families - Tanweer and Hussain from Leeds and Khan, a married man, from nearby Dewsbury - and the Muslim community in the region was as deeply shocked as others around them.

Fear and unease among Britain's Muslims estimated 1.6 million Muslims intensified Wednesday after one man was killed in the backlash against the community following the July 7 blasts.

The Guardian newspaper reported that the killing of Kamal Raza Butt, a 48-year-old Pakistani man who was on a visit to Britain to see friends and family in Nottingham, about 200 km north of London, was among 300 hate crime incidents reported in the last week.

The identity of the three terrorists was established after police Tuesday raided several homes in Leeds, including an apparent bomb-factory, where several controlled explosions were carried out. Leeds is home to a large number of Muslims - mostly of Pakistani origin, but also from Mirpur in Pakistani Kashmir and Bangladesh.

The fourth man involved in the blasts, which killed 52 people, is yet to be identified.

So far, Police have pieced together the following account of the events on July 7: the four men drove down south to Luton, 48 km north of London, carrying military-style rucksacks with 10lbs explosives in them. From Luton, they took the 7.40 a.m. train to King's Cross station in central London.

Police found the car in which they drove down at Luton station Tuesday. It was found to contain bombs, and police carried out five controlled explosions in it.

The four men were captured on CCTV cameras at King's Cross, a busy intersection that serves six underground train lines and several over-ground lines.

Tanweer, a keen cricketer and sports science student, carried his bomb to the train that was blasted at Aldgate in east London - ironically, home to a large population of Bangladeshi Muslims.

Khan boarded the train that blew up at Edgware Road in north London, a neighbourhood inhabited by many Arab Muslims.

Hussain was carrying the bomb that blew up a double-decker bus at Tavistock Square, very near King's Cross - it is as yet unclear whether Hussain triggered the bomb or whether he was travelling to another underground station when it accidentally went off.

The last bomber was on the train that was targeted at Russell Square station in central London.

All four bombers carried identification documents, which were found near their seats and led police to their homes - a fact that is being seen by police as a deliberate and final act of defiance.

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