bloodiest terrorist attacks since World War Two that killed at least 50 people in London Thursday, July 7, and for which the al-Qaeda network reportedly claimed responsibility.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair said however he and other leaders of the G8 summit he hosts in Scotland would not be intimidated and he announced Friday, July 8, a 50 billion dollar aid package to help Africa as well as a new trade deal and the cancellation of debt for the poorest nations.
Yet the news was overshadowed by reports that besides the death toll, at least 700 people were also injured in the four blasts that rocked London’s underground railway system and a bus, including 100 of them seriously, police investigators and hospital sources said. Medics said many people had lost limbs in the blasts. Others who survived were coping with a trauma after they recalled how they climbed out of underground trains and walked between dead bodies on railways towards exits.
Police Commissioner Ian Blair suggested to reporters Friday, July 8, the number of 50 dead was a conservative estimate as a number of bodies were "still in the Tube train" the word used by Londoners to describe their underground or Metro. In addittion 13 people were killed in the Tavistock Place bus bombing, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) quoted police as saying.
BODIES AT TRAINS
Commissioner Blair said the bodies still being recovered were at trains at Russell Square but added the final figure was unlikely to top 100. Scotland Yard, the detective department of the metropolitan police force in London, also confirmed that at least seven people died in the Liverpool Street explosion, another seven at Edgware Road, 13 in the Tavistock Square bus blast and at least 21 at the King’s Cross blast, news reports said. One or more persons are believed to have died later in hospitals.
The BBC quoted Anti-terrorist branch head Andy Hayman as saying each device had less than 10 pounds of high explosive in it and could be carried in a rucksack.
Commissioner Blair suggested it was too early to confirm media suggestions that the attack on the bus had been the work of a suicide bomber. "There is absolutely nothing to suggest this was a suicide bomb. There is nothing to rule it out. It may have been that or it may have been a bomb left on a seat."
His statement came a day after a group related to the al-Qaeda network claimed responsibility for the attack on a website, BosNewsLife monitored earlier. Both US and British intelligence services were looking into the claims Friday, July 8.
"ISLAMIC EXTREMISTS"
British Prime Minister Tony Blair had earlier blamed "Islamic extremists" for the morning rush-hour attacks and vowed to bring those responsible to justice.
Al Qaeda’s branch in Iraq also claimed Thursday, July 7 that it had killed Egypt’s top envoy to Baghdad, Ihab al-Sherif, and warned it would go after "as many ambassadors as we can" to punish countries that support Iraq’s US-backed leadership, news reports said.
The statement reportedly said the killing was al-Sherif’s punishment for apostasy — heretical religious beliefs — and for serving as a diplomat in Israel from 1999 to 2003. It called the Egyptian government an ally of "Jews and Christians."
NO INTIMIDATION ACCEPTED
However "we will not be intimidated," Prime Minister Blair said after arriving in London, Thursday 7, before returning to Scotland, where he was hosting the G8 summit. He also warned not to blame Muslims in general for the attacks. He said "the bombers do not reflect the views of most Muslims."
In a sign of that, The Muslim community in Edinburgh, Scotland, on Friday, July 8, reportedly condemned the London bombings as "barbaric". In a statement released by The Scotsman Newspaper’s website they said the atrocities in the English capital have left British Muslims feeling less safe and vulnerable to acts of retaliation.
Jalal Chaudry, chairman of the Islamic Society of Scotland, said: "If the perpetrators of this act turn out to be Muslims then I would like people to know that this act has nothing to do with Islam."
MUSLIMS SUPPORT CHRISTIANS
He stressed that "as far as Scotland is concerned the people here are sensible. In Scotland Muslims and Christians along with people of other faiths have stood together on incidents similar to this in the past and I hope they will stand together this time again."
In London meanwhile, Prince Charles and his wife, the Duchess of Cornwall, went to St. Mary’s Hospital on Friday, July 8, to visit victims of the bombings, several media reported. In a statement Buckingham Palace said Queen Elizabeth II also would visit with some of those "affected by the tragedy" on Friday. The Union Jack was flying at half-staff over Buckingham Palace.
Amid the grieving, church groups rushed to the scene to give comfort and pray with survivors, BosNewsLife learned. In a statement to BosNewsLife News Center the General Director of the Evangelical Alliance UK (EAUK), Joel Edwards, said: "We need to pray earnestly for those who have suffered loss or injury and call on God to bind up the broken hearted."
PSALM 46 "COMFORTS"
He added he found the Bible’s Psalm 46 "a great comfort." It says: "God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging."
Edward noted it was important for Christians to "Good News people" in times of trouble. He noted how churches had opened their doors across London to pray with survivors.
The Salvation Army UK has also been rescuing survivors and providing emergency support at two London Underground stations shortly after the incidents took place, with additional teams on standby, news reports said.
LONDON MAYOR
As ordinary Christians and Muslims apparently supported each other, London Mayor Ken Livingstone said the blasts would only make Londoners stronger and that "the terrorists" would never be able to end their resolve.
He stressed the "mass murder" carried out by terrorists bent on "indiscriminate … slaughter." He spoke from Singapore, where an announcement that London will host the 2012 Olympic Games inspired celebrations back home a day earlier.
The EAUK urged everyone in London however to show a "spirit of peace and mercy was encouraged" and it urged people "not to allow feelings of panic or revenge come to them." (With BosNewsLife News Center, BosNewsLife Research and reports from Londo, Scotland and Iraq).
