Failed UK bombers provoked fears of further attacks

LONDON, July 10 (Reuters) The botched attempts to bomb London's transport system on July 21, 2005 led to Britain's biggest man hunt as police feared the failed suicide bombers might try again or that a series of attacks might be on the way.

''Who knew whether they were going to come back and try again?'' said one senior police source, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The timing of the attacks could hardly have been more dramatic.

Just two weeks earlier, four young Britons carried out the first suicide bombings by militant Islamists in western Europe, killing 52 people on three underground trains and a bus.

The almost identical replica of these attacks left officers worried they were facing a possible series of bombings.

Compounding police fears was the knowledge the men who carried out the deadly train bombings in Madrid a year before had blown themselves up and killed a police officer after being cornered by security services.

Inspector ''Whisky Alpha'', a veteran of London police's firearms team, said those concerns were prominent when he led a raid on a flat where two of the would-be bombers were holed up.

''We had all been aware of Madrid and we had all seen the footage,'' the officer said in comments released to the media.

''Although we had profiled suicide bombers and looked into their make-up and profiles, from the 7/7 scenario it became very evident that these people were ... willing to kill themselves.'' It was in this climate of fear that on July 22, the day after the botched attacks, armed police shot dead Brazilian electrician Jean Charles de Menezes after he was mistaken for one of the bombers on the run.

He was gunned down on board an underground train at Stockwell station in south London.

Meanwhile detectives were sifting through a mass of closed circuit TV camera images. In all it took 18,000 man-hours for officers to watch all relevant footage.

Officers also discovered a treasure trove of forensic evidence at each of the scenes of the attempted bombings.

The first arrest came on July 27 when Yassin Hassan Omar, who fled to Birmingham in central England dressed in his mother-in-law's burka and carrying a handbag, was apprehended.

Police found him standing in a bath and wearing a rucksack on his back. In the violent struggle that followed, armed officers said it was a miracle that he wasn't shot by one who had a gun cocked and aimed at Omar's head.

Two days later Italian detectives captured Hussein Osman, who had fled abroad using someone else's passport, in Rome.

Hours afterwards, officers raided the London flat belonging to another of the bombers Ramzi Mohammed who was hiding there with the plot's mastermind Muktah Said Ibrahim. Both were armed with ''homemade spears'', made out of mop handles and knives.

''Normally, we would go into a siege situation. But I'd sent my concerns back through the command chain that I wanted to attempt to get them out quicker than we would normally to stop them from doing anything that would jeopardise ourselves and the building,'' Whisky Alpha said.

''Their two options were to surrender or blow themselves up.'' In a memorable scene played out in front of TV cameras, officers stormed the flat using stun grenades forcing the two suspects onto the balcony where they were pictured, looking bewildered, arms in the air and wearing just their underpants.

''Getting them out alive without having to shoot them was a great achievement,'' Whisky Alpha said.

Omar, Osman, Mohammed and Ibrahim were convicted on Monday of conspiracy to murder. A jury is still considering the same charge against two others who deny blame.

Reuters AGL GC0946