Probe into London bomber's big pay day

LONDON - Anti-terror officers from Scotland Yard believe one of the bombers who hit London's transport systems last July may have been paid by a terror mastermind to carry out the attacks.

Police are investigating how Shehzad Tanweer, who worked part-time in a fish and chip shop, left more than 121,000 ($310,000) after his death.

The mystery of the 22-year-old Aldgate tube station bomber's finances has emerged six months on from the London tube and bus attacks that left 52 dead and wounded more than 700.

Detectives and intelligence agencies have so far failed to discover who, if anyone, was responsible for orchestrating the blasts, despite analysing hours of CCTV footage, phone records and forensic science evidence.

The Independent on Sunday newspaper has learned that financial experts had already investigated the financial backgrounds of Tanweer and his fellow bombers, Mohammad Sidique Khan, Hasib Hussain and Germaine Lindsay, to establish if they were involved in money-laundering or were with international criminal networks.

However, the priority had been placed on looking into what financial transactions they had carried out, not the value of their individual assets.

A police source said the 121,000 left by Tanweer, which was documented in legal papers, could be the result of a gambling habit or he might have been left a property by a relative. But the fact that he had the money was still considered to be significant.

"We have got experts probing their financial affairs and looking at their financial profiles but this was a revelation for us," they said. "This will be looked into to see if there is any link with crime."

Senior police sources say they are working on the theory that Tanweer may have been paid to carry out the attacks.

Tanweer worked in his parents' takeaway business in the Leeds suburb of Beeston and had dropped out of a sports degree at Leeds University. In common with the three other London bombers, he had visited Pakistan.

A team of police investigators has been sent to the country to work alongside the security services in an attempt to investigate whom the bombers met and who trained them to carry out the attacks. Although they have numerous possible suspects, a definitive list has yet to be drawn up because of a lack of information.

The forensic evidence that was gathered in the wake of the July 7 bombings and the failed July 21 attacks has also failed to establish any link between the two sets of bombers.

Police sources said it had now been clearly established that the explosives for the later attacks were bought before the July 7 atrocities. This means they are no further forward in identifying the mastermind who might have trained either sets of bombers.

The Metropolitan police have confirmed that they have thwarted at least three terror plots since July. In the weeks after the July attacks, the security services warned Prime Minister Tony Blair of a new and specific terror threat on London. But he took the decision not to shut down the tube networks, as had been suggested, after a high-level meeting with police chiefs and MI5.

There is huge concern that Britain may again become the target of extremists desperate to regain support for their cause after the bombing of a wedding party at a hotel in Jordan, which was widely condemned.

Forces around the country, especially the West Midlands and Greater Manchester, have also been warned to be on the alert.

"It is still a question of when [another attack happens] rather than if. Jordan was seen as a disaster for the terrorists and they will be keen to regain credibility, either by an attack on the UK or US," said a senior Met insider.

Extremists are increasingly making use of the internet in an effort to avoid detection by police. A new tactic is for terror "commanders" to set up encrypted websites, accessible only by a secret code, which give details of how to plan and orchestrate an attack. This means the "foot soldiers" - fanatics recruited to the terrorist cause - do not have to communicate with the rest of their cell directly via mobile phones or other conventional means. Instead, they meet up only on the day of the planned attack.

As a result, police investigators are recruiting more computer experts who can help them to break into these sites. Later this month, the Met will learn whether investigators are to recommend that charges be brought against any of its officers involved in the tube station shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission is expected to issue its conclusions on the killing of the Brazilian electrician, shot when he was misidentified as one of the July 21 terrorists.

- INDEPENDENT