LONDON, 8 July 2006 — Britain remembered the victims of the July 7 terrorist bombings on the London Transport system last year with a poignant two-minute silence at noon yesterday.
Britons of all colors and creeds paid tribute to the 52 innocent people who died and the 700 plus injured when home-grown terrorists — Sidique Khan, Shehzad Tanweer, Hasib Hussain and Germaine Lindsay — detonated four bombs, three on the underground trains at Edgware Road, Aldgate and King’s Cross, and another on the No. 30 bus at Tavistock Square, with devastating consequences.
Survivors, bereaved relatives and members of the emergency services at the blast sites were joined by millions in offices, shops, factories, conference halls and homes across the country to observe the two-minute silence, which was the focus of a number of commemorative events to honor the victims of the suicide attacks.
Tributes were led by Prime Minister Tony Blair in London and the Queen, the Duke of Edinburgh, the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall at St. Giles’ Cathedral in Edinburgh. Home Secretary John Reid joined Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Ian Blair and his most senior officers outside New Scotland Yard to observe the silence, the start of which was marked by the chimes of Big Ben and the end by the bell of St. Paul’s Cathedral. Not even Al-Qaeda’s gratuitous opportunism could undermine this solemn cathartic moment. The terrorist outfit on Thursday night released a tape of Shehzad warning Britons of more such planned attacks — a move blatantly aimed at undermining the commemoration of the first anniversary of the terrorist outrage. The headline in the Daily Mirror could not have been more to the point. “Damn you to Hell” was the tabloid’s message to Al-Qaeda.
Metropolitan Police Chief Sir Ian warned in an interview with BBC Radio 4 that the threat of more attacks is very real.
“Some of the threats that we have intercepted in the last few months have been from outside and inside. The threat is very grim, there is no doubt about it. There are, as we speak, people in the United Kingdom planning further atrocities. I fear that we have to accept that we live in an age for some years when the threat of an attack getting through is very real,” Sir Ian said.
Heightened security was highly visible especially on London’s huge rail and bust transport network.
Just as on that fateful day last year and in the subsequent weeks, Londoners rose to the occasion with their own tributes including a pink and white carnation floral tribute in Queen Mary’s Gardens in Regent’s Park.
