MI5 said bomber was not a threat

[Eugene]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/4691547.stm

Last Updated: Sunday, 17 July, 2005, 20:43 GMT 21:43 UK

MI5 said bomber was not a threat

One of the London bombers was investigated by MI5 last year but was
deemed not to be a threat, it has been revealed.

Mohammad Sidique Khan, 30, was subject to a routine assessment by the
security service because of an indirect connection to an alleged terror
plot.

He was one of hundreds investigated but not considered a risk.

It had previously been believed that the four bombers were unknown to
British security services.

more...

[Greeby]

1. Really?

OH, I'm sure thats a real comfort to the families of the dead, and the injured, and those so scared shitless that they'll never get on the Tube again :sarcasm: :grr:

[Rex]

2. Have they ID Khan yet?

I read that it would be only possible by dental records.

[tocqueville]

3. so the French were right...

LONDON Britain's era of good will with Europe lasted 48 hours — all because of the French. After the July 7 terrorist attacks in London, Scotland Yard brought together law enforcement and intelligence officials from two dozen European countries and the United States, sharing crucial intelligence and pleading for help in tracking down the bombers. But the continentwide spirit of cooperation was shattered when Christophe Chaboud, France's new antiterrorism coordinator, broke the cardinal rule of the club. He leaked. In an interview with the French newspaper Le Monde that appeared on newsstands on July 11 — two days after the exceptionally open briefing — Chaboud announced that he knew ''the nature of the explosives'' used in the London bombings. It ''appears to be military, which is very worrisome,'' he said, adding: ''We're more used to cells making homemade explosives from chemical substances.''

But Chaboud did not stop with his assessment of the explosives and their origins, which, it turned out, were wrong. He plunged into politics, saying Europe was a more dangerous place because of the war in Iraq. ''The war in Iraq has revived the logic of total conflict against the West,'' he declared, without adding the obvious: that Britain supported the war and France did not. The British reacted with fury, sending communiqués to a number of European friends that expressed deep disappointment that the bonds of trust had been broken, according to two European officials who received the missives.

After an emergency EU summit meeting of justice and interior ministers in Brussels on Wednesday, the French interior minister, Nicolas Sarkozy, suggested that part of the cell responsible for the London terror attacks had been arrested in the past. The remarks prompted an immediate response from the British home secretary, Charles Clarke, who had called the meeting. ''I've heard Sarkozy's remarks to the press, and there is absolutely no foundation in them,''

http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/07/18/europe/rift.php

[Rex]

8. Bonds of trust?

When did the English and French become close friends? I doubt there are two other nations that have a history of hating each other as long as the French and English.

[tocqueville]

9. we fought our wars yes, so did you

but for the last 100 years or so, mutual assistance has been predominating

We have armies in common for example, and a very wide cooperation in common weaponry

Germany has been more of a common enemy for both countries

I really don't understand the word "hate" in that context. I've never seen it used in a modern country to country relation in Europe...

Even phrases like "they hate our freedom" are not used here

It's not a question of "hate", but of diverging interests.

[tocqueville]

10. we fought our wars yes, so did you

but for the last 100 years or so, mutual assistance has been predominating

We have armies in common for example, and a very wide cooperation in common weaponry

Germany has been more of a common enemy for both countries

I really don't understand the word "hate" in that context. I've never seen it used in a modern country to country relation in Europe...

Even phrases like "they hate our freedom" are not used here

It's not a question of "hate", but of diverging interests.

[daleo]

4. It seems like it is never the right time for an inquiry.

"Earlier, Lord Chancellor Lord Falconer said no internal inquiry had been launched into why the London bombers were not picked up by the security services.

He said "now is not the time" for an inquiry, but for a decision on what legal steps were needed against terror."

[daleo]

5. One of the values of the west is being able to attack those values

and not be imprisoned.

(further down in the BBC link):
"The Lord Chancellor told BBC News under new laws people "attacking the values of the West" and "glorifying the acts of suicide bombers" would be imprisoned for "long periods" and "deported wherever possible", but no law could stop terrorism altogether."

[movonne]

6. try this

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/4691547.stm ignore this

[LisaL]

7. Oops!

[annabanana]

11. Suspect was within their grasp

A top government official yesterday denied British intelligence had dropped the ball last year by briefly investigating one of the alleged suicide bombers in July 7's mass transit attacks but never placing him under surveillance.

The MI5 intelligence service performed a "routine" probe into Mohammed Sidque Khan, 30, a British native of Pakistan heritage who is considered the ringleader among the four alleged bombers, in connection with a suspected plot to blow up a London nightclub, the Sunday Times of London revealed.

But MI5 didn't continue to follow Khan, a grade-school adviser from the Leeds area, because he appeared at most "only indirectly linked," the report said.

http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/world/ny-wobomb184348647jul18,0,4926831.story

Is this someone who "got away" because the US picked up a "flipped" al Qaida agent in the middle of the investigation?

[Henny Penny]

12. So when British Home Secretary Charles Clarke said...

that claims made by the French Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy on this matter were "completely and utterly untrue" he was lying?

Re-read Clarke's denials and then think about how much of the official story you can really trust.

How re-assuring for the British public...

:sarcasm:


http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4680155.stm

Interesting to note this also...

Earlier, Lord Chancellor Lord Falconer said no internal inquiry had been launched into why the London bombers were not picked up by the security services.

He said "now is not the time" for an inquiry, but for a decision on what legal steps were needed against terror.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4691547.stm

[annabanana]

13. nonononono

I remember (during the campaign here) that there was someone under investigation by the UK who had been "flipped"..And that this person was arrested by the US before he could spill all his beans.. and that a batch of investigations were short-circuited because of this and that investigators in Europe were ticked off by this...

What I need to know is.. was Kahn likely to have been kept in custody if we hadn't swiped that flipped operative?

[Eugene]

14. Additional: Three UK bombers visited Pakistan (BBC)

Three of the four London suicide bombers visited Pakistan last year,
officials there have confirmed.

Mohammad Sidique Khan and Shehzad Tanweer arrived and left together,
and spent three months in the country.

Hasib Hussain flew in last July. It is not clear how long he stayed.
Security officials have been trying to establish what the men did
during their visits.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4693001.stm