London mayor opens book of condolence

LONDON - Mayor Ken Livingstone, pledging "the city will endure", opened a book of condolence on Monday for Londoners wanting to pay their respects to the victims of last week's suspected al Qaeda bomb attacks.

In a sombre and silent ceremony at City Hall, Livingstone was the first to sign in memory of at least 49 people killed in last Thursday's attacks on underground trains and a bus.

He shed tears after writing "The city will endure. It's the future of our world. Tolerance and change." Eager to underline that London was back in business after the blasts that paralysed the city's transport system, Livingstone came to work on the underground railway and promised "We are going to carry on with our lives." He singled out for praise transport workers on the London "Tube", saying: "the calm efficiency with which they evacuated trains saved many lives." Livingstone, who was in Singapore last week, celebrating London being picked to host the 2012 Olympics, was joined at the signing ceremony by Olympic bid chief Sebastian Coe.

Within 24 hours, the mayor and the dual Olympic gold medallist first savoured the elation of landing the greatest sports show on earth and then saw the city plunged into grief and shock by the bombings.

Religious and community leaders, eager to avoid a backlash against ethnic minorities after the blasts, put on a display of unity to join together and mark their abhorrence.

Signing the book of condolence was a particularly poignant gesture for Rabbi Barry Marcus, who was cycling to a meeting in central London when he witnessed the bomb blast that killed 13 people on a double-decker bus.

"I was just a matter of metres away from the carnage. It was just absolutely dreadful, body parts and people running around injured. I saw quite a few fatalities on the ground." he said.

"I was on a bicycle. Because of that, I was shielded by the trees which saved me from being showered by the incredible amounts of glass flying around," Marcus told Reuters.

"It is just sad that only through an event like this that the people of London may just begin to contemplate what Israel has been going through for the last five years," he added.

- REUTERS