London bus bomber made panicked calls - report

LONDON - One of the July 7 London bombers made three "panicked" phone calls to his accomplices less than an hour before blowing himself up on a bus after his plans to bomb a train were disrupted, a newspaper has reported.

Hasib Hussain, 18, had planned to detonate his rucksack bomb on an underground train, but was forced to change plans because the line he wanted to use was closed, the Evening Standard reported, citing security sources.

Police have traced three calls he made with "increasing panic" to his fellow attackers, who had just killed themselves on three underground trains, the report said.

After failing to get a reply, Hussain wandered the streets of the capital and made a snap decision to bomb a red London bus in Tavistock Square, 57 minutes after his accomplices had detonated their devices.

A police spokeswoman declined to comment on the report.

The four bombers killed themselves and 52 others and injured more than 700 in the blasts.

In a failed attack two weeks later, four bombs left on trains and a bus in the capital failed to explode and no one was injured.

Police have not charged anyone in connection with the July 7 attacks. Three men named by Scotland Yard as key suspects in the July 21 attacks have been charged with attempted murder and a fourth is awaiting extradition from Rome.

The Guardian newspaper reported on Wednesday that the July 7 bombers triggered the blasts by hand rather than by mobile phone as previously suggested.

The Guardian, citing unidentified senior police and anti-terrorism sources for its information, said the men used "button-like" devices to set off the bombs.

The newspaper said the discovery was a breakthrough in the investigation, which has been overshadowed by the fatal shooting on July 22 of Brazilian Jean Charles de Menezes by police who mistook him for a would-be suicide bomber.

- REUTERS