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thepeel
Joined: 08 Aug 2004
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 Posted: Fri Jun 29, 2007 1:49 am Post subject: Police defuse bomb in central London |
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LONDON � British police defused a bomb in an abandoned car in London's theatre district on Friday and launched a counter-terrorism investigation.
The bomb, which Sky News quoted unidentified sources as saying was "potentially massive," was found inside a light green Mercedes left outside a nightclub in the early hours of Friday, a police officer quoted witnesses as saying.
The witnesses said the occupant drove "erratically" before smashing into some bins outside the nightclub and running off. Bouncers from the nightclub investigated, saw what looked like gas canisters inside the vehicle and called the police.
Officers sealed off the area at around 2 a.m. and found a bomb, the Metropolitan police said.
An area believed to contain a bomb is cordoned off in central London on Friday. Stephen Hird/Reuters
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An area believed to contain a bomb is cordoned off in central London on Friday. (Stephen Hird/Reuters)
The Globe and Mail
"They discovered what appeared to be a potentially viable explosive device. This was made safe," they said, adding that counter-terrorism officers were investigating.
The discovery came hours after new Prime Minister Gordon Brown named a cabinet to succeed Tony Blair. It posed a first major challenge for Brown's administration, and particularly his new home secretary, Jacqui Smith.
Ms. Smith was to chair a meeting of the government's top emergency committee, Cobra, on Friday, Mr. Brown said.
"The first duty of a government is the security of the people and as the police and security services have said on so many occasions we face a serious and continued security threat to our country," Mr. Brown, in his third day in office, told reporters.
"This incident does recall the need for us to be vigilant at all times and the public to be alert."
Security around parliament was stepped up, with police body-searching drivers of vehicles entering the compound.
The bomb alert came almost two years after a series of co-ordinated suicide bomb attacks on London's transport network killed 52 commuters, the first Islamist suicide bombings in western Europe. London has frequently been on edge since.
Terrorism experts said an al-Qaeda connection to the potential attack could not be dismissed.
"We couldn't rule it out," a security source said, noting that the threat from international Islamist terrorism was the main reason the official British threat level is placed at "severe," the second highest level.
"Numerically speaking, al-Qaeda is a strong possibility but it just is too early to attribute specifically.
"It would be wrong and short-sighted to rule out domestic options as well. Obviously there are various extremist groups out there too," the source added.
The MI5 intelligence agency said last year it believed Islamist radicals were plotting at least 30 major terrorist attacks in Britain and it was tracking some 1,600 suspects.
A large area of central London around the scene, in the normally busy and popular theatre district, remained sealed off hours after the bomb was found. Officers at the scene said it could be several hours before the area was cleared.
Office workers unable to enter their buildings to start the work day milled outside, watching the police operation.
"We've been standing out here for a couple of hours," said David Way, 29, the director of a recruitment company based in the same street as where the car was abandoned. "I suspect we're going to hang around until lunchtime and see what happens."
A London Transport spokesman said Piccadilly underground station was closed and some bus services were also affected.
Haymarket is usually thronged with Londoners and tourists. It is close to Piccadilly Circus in an area packed with theatres, restaurants and pubs. |
http://www.theglobeandmail.com |
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Adventurer
Joined: 28 Jan 2006
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| Posted: Fri Jun 29, 2007 7:33 am Post subject: |
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| Bombs with nails reminds me of the bombs that were used by Palestinian militants against the Israelis. I have a feeling that some Pakistani citizens of England were planning some attack because of the knighthood of Salman Rushdie. Anyway, why was the guy knighted. I never heard that he was really a great author, just controversial. Anyone read the books he wrote? |
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thekingofdisco
Joined: 29 Oct 2004
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| Posted: Fri Jun 29, 2007 7:14 pm Post subject: |
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Actually seems like there were 2 bombs.
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Two car bombs found in West End
Police have confirmed they are now investigating the discovery of two car bombs in the West End of London.
Police said the second device had been found in a Mercedes hours after the car was given a parking ticket in Cockspur Street and towed to Park Lane.
Another Mercedes, with a bomb made up of 60 litres of petrol, gas cylinders and nails, had been found outside a nightclub in Haymarket at 0130 BST.
Both bombs were similar, potentially viable and clearly linked, police said. |
Whole article at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6255960.stm |
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thepeel
Joined: 08 Aug 2004
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| Posted: Fri Jun 29, 2007 8:25 pm Post subject: |
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Shall we have a guess at which "religion" produced these thugs?
a) islam
b) islam
c) islam
? |
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Lie Bot
Joined: 23 Jun 2006
Location: Somewhere with Seoul!!!
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| Posted: Fri Jun 29, 2007 8:32 pm Post subject: |
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| BJWD wrote: |
Shall we have a guess at which "religion" produced these thugs?
a) islam
b) islam
c) islam
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Yeah ROP (Religion of Peace) strikes again  . I bet Iran is behind this. We need to stop sitting on our hands and do something before its too late. |
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catman
Joined: 18 Jul 2004
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| Posted: Fri Jun 29, 2007 8:43 pm Post subject: |
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Bombing Iran will certainly stop future terrorist attacks.  |
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Lie Bot
Joined: 23 Jun 2006
Location: Somewhere with Seoul!!!
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| Posted: Fri Jun 29, 2007 8:48 pm Post subject: |
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| catman wrote: |
| Bombing Iran will certainly stop future terrorist attacks. |
If we don't do something it will encourage them because they know there are no consequences. |
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huffdaddy
Joined: 25 Nov 2005
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| Posted: Fri Jun 29, 2007 8:51 pm Post subject: |
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| Lie Bot wrote: |
| catman wrote: |
| Bombing Iran will certainly stop future terrorist attacks. |
If we don't do something it will encourage them because they know there are no consequences. |
Stop the terrorist attacks!! Or we drop the baby!!
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thepeel
Joined: 08 Aug 2004
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| Posted: Fri Jun 29, 2007 9:10 pm Post subject: |
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| Lie Bot wrote: |
| catman wrote: |
| Bombing Iran will certainly stop future terrorist attacks. |
If we don't do something it will encourage them because they know there are no consequences. |
It isn't "our" job to stop them. Let them be. If they are crazy enough to sponsor an attack I feel quite confident that they will live to regret it. B2bombers don't listen to allah. |
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Adventurer
Joined: 28 Jan 2006
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| Posted: Sat Jun 30, 2007 1:48 am Post subject: |
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| Well, someone on CNN said England has some of the most radicalized Muslims in all of Europe. Certainly, the South Asian Muslims are generally more radical than the North African ones, in general, but I think the majority are good people, but there are way too many who have gone to those camps in Pakistan and Afghanistan. |
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On the other hand
Joined: 19 Apr 2003
Location: I walk along the avenue
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| Posted: Sat Jun 30, 2007 4:18 am Post subject: |
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Anyway, why was the guy knighted. I never heard that he was really a great author, just controversial. Anyone read the books he wrote?
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I haven't read much by him, just a few essays and op-eds that I found rather underwhelming. However, it seems to me that the common thing for British cultural figures of his stature is to get a knighthood. William Golding, Rod Stewart, Paul McCartney, V.S Naipaul, etc. So there doesn't strike me as being anything out-of-the-ordinary about this. |
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On the other hand
Joined: 19 Apr 2003
Location: I walk along the avenue
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| Posted: Sat Jun 30, 2007 4:21 am Post subject: |
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BJWD wrote:
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Lie Bot wrote:
catman wrote:
Bombing Iran will certainly stop future terrorist attacks.
If we don't do something it will encourage them because they know there are no consequences.
It isn't "our" job to stop them. Let them be. If they are crazy enough to sponsor an attack I feel quite confident that they will live to regret it. B2bombers don't listen to allah |
Exactly. And I would doubt that Iran has a lot of influence over Sunni Muslim terrorists anyway. You could probably kill every single person in Iran, and it wouldn't make one iota's worth of practical difference to the people known as Al Qaeda. |
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