mike wells / reuters a second wave Forensic experts examine the bus-bombing site in east London

SPECIAL REPORT     London Gets Lucky
	The city thought the worst was over, but new attacks have made Londoners both fearful and thankful that yet more lives were not lost
	By J.F.O. McALLISTER

Posted Sunday, July 24, 2005; 18.15BST
The man vaulted the ticket barrier and ran onto the platform at the Stockwell underground station, pursued by up to 20 police officers who had ordered him to stop. Wearing a heavy coat — odd, on a hot summer day — the man stumbled onto a waiting Northern Line train and was tackled. As he sprawled on the floor, one of the officers — following previously secret "shoot to kill" guidelines covering possible suicide bombers — unloaded five bullets into his head. Was the dead man one of the four conspirators who had tried to bomb London the day before? He was not. He was a Brazilian electrician, Jean Charles de Menezes, 27, who had lived in London for three years and who, the police admitted in an apology, had no connection to the terror plots. And so an edgy city got edgier; the terrorists who have targeted London have achieved that much, at least.

The British capital is now the uneasy center of a modern war. It is one that pits young men, keen to attempt mass murder, using surprise high technology and the camouflage of ordinariness, against a giant, imperfect machinery of surveillance and force bent on catching them. A quartet of bombers deployed themselves throughout London's public transport system last Thursday, in an attack chillingly similar to the one two weeks before that killed 56 people. On both occasions there were four bombers carrying backpacks, three on Underground trains and one on a bus. As on July 7, the three would-be tube bombers triggered their blasts almost simultaneously.

"Clearly the intention must have been to kill," said Ian Blair, chief of London's police. His force had been worried that there might be another cell primed to follow up the July 7 blasts. This time, thankfully, the bombs fizzled. Detonators exploded, but not the main charge — possibly because the bombs were built from the same batch of home-brewed chemical known as TATP that is thought to have been used on July 7. TATP degrades quickly. By Saturday two men were under arrest for terror offenses, both from the Stockwell area of south London. One had been led away with a woman and child from an apartment in a housing project. Neighbors said the family was from Ethiopia and was Muslim. Police would not say whether the arrested men were bomb suspects.

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London Terror [Aug. 1, 2005] Four more bomb attempts on London transport rattle the already anxious capital, while the search for those responsible takes on global dimensions Becoming A Bomber [Aug. 1, 2005] Investigators in Pakistan explore possible radicalizing influences Hate Around The Coner [July 25, 2005] Investigators blame the attacks on four homegrown suicide bombers — and look for global links to al-Qaeda In Both Sorrow and Anger [July 25, 2005] British Muslims start to talk about the London bombs — and the radicalism that produced them The Hardest Count [July 25, 2005] How do you indentify the victims of a suicide bomber? 7 Days Later [July 14, 2005] Scenes from Britain after the suicide attacks TIMEeurope.com Series Of Explosions In London [July 7, 2005] Dozens die as terrorists hit Britain's capital in the crowded rush hour TIME.com Back to Work [July 8, 2005] TIME's staffers give first-person accounts of their morning journey as Londoners return to their commute the day after a deadly attack Photoessay Rush Hour Terror [July 18, 2005] After a strike in the heart of London, suspicion again falls on Islamic radicals. Inside the hunt for the bombers 3 Lessons from London [July 18, 2005] As investigators unravel the plot, here's what the attacks reveal about how al-Qaeda operates today — and why the bombings may be a sign of things to come Photoessay A New Blitz [July 7, 2005] Four explosions in London rip apart a bus and shut down the entire transport system Photoessay Eyewitness [July 8, 2005] Personal Cameras and cellphones record the terror of the day Photoessay London Carnage [July 8, 2005] Dozens killed by rush-hour terror strikes Photoessay London Mourning [July 8, 2005] Shock and sadness follows a wave of terror Search all issues of TIME Magazine Indicates premium content