CHRIS HELGREN / REUTERS CAPTURED Yasin Hassan Omar, who police say tried to blow up Warren Street station, was caught in Birmingham after being shot with a Taser gun

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Posted Sunday, July 31, 2005; 14:24BST
There are also signs of a wider network of accomplices: a fifth bomb, found abandoned after the July 21 attacks in a park in west London (the man police suspect was supposed to use it — Wahbi Mohammed, the brother of Ramzi Mohammed — was also arrested last week), and the 16 bomb components found in the trunk of the car left at Luton train station by the July 7 suicide bombers. "Was there supposed to be a fifth bomber on July 7, too?" asks a British official. According to Italian authorities, Osman, who was born in Ethiopia, was able to use a dense network of contacts from East Africa for shelter as he made his way to Rome. They worry that Italy could be the next jihadist battleground.

Investigators are skeptical that the second London attack could have been put together by a copycat cell in only two weeks. On the other hand, they note that the July 21 operation did appear to be less prepared, especially because the explosives fizzled. "Al-Qaeda doesn't let amateurs out," says Dominic Armstrong, head of research and intelligence at the London-based private security firm Aegis Defence Services. A U.S. counterterror official told Time that the British and U.S. governments are open to the idea that the two attacks "may have been planned independently of each other."

Not only is there no clear link between the two sets of suspects, there is no established link between either group and al-Qaeda or any other known terror network, say British officials. There are lots of tantalizing links back to Pakistan from the July 7 gang, three of whom had parents born there. When Shehzad Tanweer — who killed seven on a train near Aldgate station — and Mohammed Sidique Khan — who killed six at Edgware Road station — left Leeds to visit Pakistan in 2004, they were frequently seen with members and recruiters of the banned militant organizations Lashkar-e-Toiba and Jaish-e-Muhammad, according to several people in Samundri, a town near the village where Tanweer stayed with his uncle.

A Lashkar-e-Toiba member in a nearby village told Time, "I was introduced to Tanweer last year, too. He had come to visit a madrasah." The militants who took Tanweer around treated him as someone worthy of respect, according to the villagers, even though he was only 21. Locals also remember him discussing atrocities against Muslims and distributing material favoring jihad. These links strongly suggest that Tanweer and Khan could have hooked up with al-Qaeda. The nature of the July 7 bombings also has many hallmarks of the worldwide terrorist group: meticulous planning, spectacular co-ordinated attacks and a goal of causing maximum civilian casualties and social disruption. Nevertheless, no hard evidence linking the attacks with al-Qaeda has been unearthed.

Significant foreign ties for the July 21 suspects are much less evident. The man arrested in Birmingham, Omar, 24, came to Britain from Somalia when he was 11, and Said, arrested in west London, came from Eritrea when he was 14. Radical Islam does have strong roots in east Africa, where al-Qaeda has bombed the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania and a Kenyan hotel, and almost shot down an Israeli airliner full of tourists. Matt Bryden, Horn of Africa project director with the International Crisis Group in Nairobi, has co-authored a report that concludes a "new, ruthless, independent jihadi network with links to al-Qaeda" has arisen in Somalia, and fears that "jihadis will gradually find growing purchase among Somalia's despairing and disaffected citizenry." Nevertheless, British officials say there is no discernible operational link to the region for the July 21 plot, and believe the men may have "got jihad" in London.

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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