Britain shocked at homegrown bombing suspects

LONDON - The country was aghast today at the possibility four young British friends, including a tearaway teen and a cricket-mad sports graduate, carried out last week's attacks in London.

"The Boy Bombers" and "Backpack Butchers" slammed The Sun newspaper. 

"Suicide bombers from suburbia" wrote the Daily Mail, of the four men suspected of killing more than 52 and injuring 700 people in what may have been western Europe's first suicide attack.

The men, thought to be of Pakistani origin, are believed to have blown themselves up with rucksack bombs on Thursday morning last week.

Police said it was "very likely" that one suspect had died in the blasts on London's transport network, and were trying to work out if all four bombers had blown themselves up deliberately.

Senior security sources last night warned that the suspected al Qaeda planners, bomb makers and organisers, were still at large and further suicide bombings were likely in the future.

The revelations came on a day of fast-moving developments, with police carrying out six searches in Yorkshire, northern England, including at the homes of three of the four suspects. One man was arrested in those raids, understood to be a relative of the suspects. 

"They were four ordinary British lads from ordinary British homes who loved football and girls... So why did they become the suicide murderers?" The Daily Mirror wondered on its front page.

Three of the four men are thought to come from the Leeds area of West Yorkshire and were not considered to have any previous history of terrorism or be considered Islamic extremists.

The bodies of three of the terrorists, aged 19, 22, and 30, have been identified, while a fourth was thought to be among the remains in the wreckage on the Piccadilly Line between King's Cross and Russell Square.

London Police's anti-terrorist head Peter Clarke said police had found personal documents with the names of three suspects close to the scene of three of last Thursday's blasts, which the government says bear the hallmark of al Qaeda-style Islamist militants.

Scotland Yard said they had recovered CCTV footage of the four bombers at King's Cross station with their racksack bombs minutes before the attacks.

Two of the bombers are believed to be Shahzad Tanweer, 22, and Hasib Hussain, 19, both of Leeds, whose houses were among six raided by West Yorkshire Police in a 10-mile radius around the city and neighbouring Dewsbury.

Both men are known to have been missing since last week.

Mr Tanweer, said by neighbours at his home in Colwyn Road, Beeston, to have been a university educated graduate and keen local cricketer, had not been at home since last week, which had been a cause of concern for his father, Mohammed, who runs a chip shop near the family home.

"He was a sweet guy who gets on with everyone," said Mohamed Ansaar Riaz, 19, in The Times newspaper, of the sports science graduate.

"He had a fantastic sense of humour and could make you laugh... The idea of him going down to London to explode a bomb is unbelievable; it is not in his nature to do something like that."

His friend, Azzy Mohammed, said: 'We played cricket together and I [could not imagine him doing] anything to hurt anyone as he has a very strong family.'

Another neighbour, who declined to be named, told ITN News that the "always smiling" sports graduate had spent two months in Afghanistan last year and four months in the Pakistani city of Lahore.

Mr Hussain, 19, of Colonso Mount, Holbeck, Leeds, is understood to have been the subject of attempts at discipline by his parents, Mahmood and Hussain, after becoming difficult to control in his adolescence.

But he became devoutly religious 18 months ago and is believed to have gone to London last week - since which time he has not been seen or contactable - despite the efforts of his older brother.

"He went off the rails and his parents were very worried. They wanted to instill some discipline in him; I don't know what happened but 18 months to two years ago (the suspect) suddenly changed and became devoutly religious," a cousin was quoted in The Times as saying.

A third suspect was said to be a 30-year old married father of one and according to an unnamed member of his wife's family they had originally disapproved of him because he was not as traditional a Muslim as they would have wished.

"He does not believe in having a beard or wearing a hat. But he has always seemed a really nice guy and has never been in any trouble that I know of. He has been to Pakistan a few times but not for long periods," the in-law was quoted in the Daily Mail as saying.

Police were alerted to the existence of one of the four when his distressed family called a casualty hotline on Thursday.

Their son had been travelling to London "with his mates" and had not returned, The Guardian reported.

The news the British men are prepared to carry out suicide attacks in Britain has transformed the way the country views it security.

"What we considered normal has changed forever," said one senior security source.

It is almost impossible to guard against a suicide attack and security measures at all public places will have to be re-thought. Tough new security laws are also expected to be introduced to try and combat the threat.

Anti-terrorist officers yesterday carried out a series of raids in Leeds and Dewsbury where they found a bomb factory, including high explosives, in a house belonging to one of the terrorists.

Explosives were also found in a car in Luton train station, which is thought to have been used by the bombers to drive down from Leeds on Thursday morning.

Detectives also evacuated 500 homes before carrying out a controlled explosion in the Burley district of Leeds.

Tony Blair issued a defiant statement saying: "Together, our modern, diverse and tolerant country will ensure the terrorists fail in their attempts to destroy the way of life we all share and value."

- THE INDEPENDENT