LONDON, 11 July 2005 — British anti-terrorist police arrested three people at Heathrow Airport under the Prevention of Terrorism Act 2000 yesterday, as the hunt for those who perpetrated Thursday’s terrorist attacks on London intensified.
Deputy Assistant Commissioner Brian Paddick could not confirm the nationalities and the religion of those arrested, and warned that “it would be completely inappropriate to link these arrests to the incidents in London.”
With various rumors about the prime blast suspects doing the rounds, including one where Al-Qaeda is supposed to have outsourced the attack on London to Serbian mercenaries, police remain coy about key aspects of the investigation, which has resulted in growing frustration among the vast international press corps. On the type and size of explosives used, for instance, they maintain that it was high explosives under 10 pounds — the same information that was given on Friday.
As Britain comes to terms with its grief, London Mayor Ken Livingstone is to open a Book of Remembrance at City Hall at 1 p.m. today to allow the public to recall their remembrances and comments on the incidents. Yesterday Downing Street announced a two-minute silence to be observed throughout the country at noon on Thursday as a mark of respect to those who have died and suffered in the bomb attacks. In addition, police have deployed 59 Family Liaison Officers to help families who have suffered a loss or serious injury to relatives in the attacks. They have also assisted in 31 cases involving those missing as a result of the bombings.
Andy Trotter, deputy chief constable, British Transport Police, issued a defiant message to the terrorists: “We will redouble our efforts to keep this city safe. Our message is that London is clearly open for business.” London remains on high alert, with more policemen visible on the roads. Police, however, are reviewing the situation on an ongoing basis. DAC Trotter confirmed that the entire armed response unit of the Metropolitan Police “is on duty”.
Yesterday, Lord Stevens, the former Metropolitan Police Commissioner, raised some eyebrows when he stressed that the perpetrators “were almost certainly home-grown British Muslims” or an Al-Qaeda cell from abroad. The police have played down the comments of Lord Stevens, saying that they are “not discounting either possibilities at this stage.”
On Saturday night West Midlands Police evacuated 20,000 people from Birmingham City Center “following a real and significant threat to lives.” Intelligence reports, according to the police, suggested that the people of Birmingham were at threat.
This forced the police to respond. They indeed did carry out four controlled explosions, but none of them turned out to be a threat.
