SPECIAL REPORT

Posted Sunday, July 31, 2005; 14:24BST
But he did get a roommate: Said, who arrived from Eritrea in 1992 and moved in with Omar a couple of years ago. Known as a bully at school, he served time in five juvenile jails after being convicted in 1996 for gang robberies at knifepoint. One of the jails, Feltham Young Offender Institution, was where shoe bomber Richard Reid had earlier turned to Islam. Following the Sept. 11 attacks, several Muslim prison clerics were suspended after being accused of inflammatory preaching; one had worked at Feltham, where prison officers found pamphlets describing the U.S. as "the great evil which must be wiped out."

At Curtis House, Omar and Said played football on Sundays with some East Africans, but mostly kept to themselves. Some neighbors say they held prayer meetings. Last month, Samantha Jones, whose son Conor, 11, used to play football with them, saw them take "40 or 50 cartons up in the lift. They said it was wallpaper stripper." Police now believe their apartment was the bomb factory for the July 21 attacks. Nicola Hannay-Young, 15, who lives on the second floor, said Omar and Said and sometimes their friends "were in and out six or seven times a day. One had a dark blue plastic carrier bag that he carried very tightly." Traces of explosives were reportedly found in the building's garbage chute, and explosives were removed from Omar's apartment and a nearby garage.

The police were delighted with the rapid progress in locating the July 21 suspects, but the next steps may be harder. Investigators this week will presumably try to play each suspect against the other, hoping to elicit information that will fill in the many gaps about how the attacks were planned and co-ordinated. Antiterror investigators will also turn their attention to "the support networks," says a British police source. Until they are wrapped up, says antiterror police chief Peter Clarke, "the threat remains, and is very real."

And that is what is really worrying other British officials. Of the July 7 and July 21 suspects, only one had previously even tweaked the interest of the security services, implying that many more homegrown terrorists networks could be out there: Eritrean, Jamaican, North African (responsible for the Madrid bombings), Pakistani, Somali and perhaps many others in a country with 1.6 million Muslims, 4% of whom, according to an ICM poll published last week, believe "it is acceptable for religious or political groups to use violence for political ends." One official estimates there are now at least 800 Muslims with jihadist leanings in Britain who ought to be under surveillance or deported, half of whom are British citizens and cannot be made to leave.

The security services are likely to need more resources to combat that threat, even though their budget has increased 20% in the past year. At a press conference last week, Prime Minister Tony Blair backed tougher measures to fight terrorism, including using intercept evidence in court and longer periods of detention without charge — the police want up to 90 days instead of the current 14. Even with some Britons questioning the police's unprecedented tactics, Blair seems likely to get most of what he wants.

In Pakistan, President Pervez Musharraf attacked the same problem in a different way. He announced that he would ban all foreigners from studying in the country's more than 10,000 madrasahs, some of which preach jihad or have al-Qaeda links. Such measures might have made it harder for the July 7 bombers to link up with the radicals they found in Pakistan. Musharraf said 1,400 foreigners would be immediately affected. "We will not allow madrasahs to be misused for extremism," he declared. But he announced similar measures in 2002 and did almost nothing. Musharraf is unrepentant. "We have to proceed in a manner that will succeed, and success is not so black and white," he said.

In that sense, Pakistan's problem and Britain's are different not in kind, only in degree. In Birmingham, just a few meters from where Omar, the suspected Warren St. bomber, was arrested, Tom Wheeldon is apprehensive and uncertain. "The neighborhood feels different now. I don't know who's who," says Wheeldon, an 86-year-old World War II vet. "I knew who the enemy was [during the war]. But now the enemy is within; you can't see them." To prevent future attacks, the police and the public will need a much clearer idea of who the enemy is.

Previous | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4

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