Rush Hour Terror

• Share

(5 of 6)

Those hunting the bombers are focused on cracking the supply chain of munitions. "We need to know more about how these cells are getting their explosives," says a U.S. counterterrorism official. One possible source of munitions is Iraq, where insurgents and terrorists such as al-Zarqawi are known to have stockpiles of weapons and explosives. A U.S. intelligence official tells TIME that investigators are "trying to see if there's any link in the forensics" between Iraqi explosives and the London bombs. In fact, an Italian intelligence source told TIME that British intelligence is looking into an al-Zarqawi connection. "Al-Zarqawi is a potential source since there's an unlimited amount of explosives and munitions in Iraq that he controls," says a second U.S. official. "So it's just a matter of getting it out of Iraq and to the right people."

So, who might those people be? Britain has long had a radical fringe with links to jihadist terrorist groups. In the past few years, British Muslims have been involved in terrorist plots not just in Britain but also in Pakistan and Israel. At the same time, the very openness and multiculturalism on which London prides itself--to say nothing of the relatively tough standards that police have to satisfy to make a case against political radicals--have for decades made the city a haven for jihadists from all over Europe and beyond.

Not everyone has enjoyed Britain's tolerance. In the years before Sept. 11, 2001, French authorities despaired at what they claimed was the tendency of the British authorities to turn a blind eye to events in "Londonistan." It was commonly known that the British kept radicals such as Abu Hamza al-Masri-- formerly the imam of the notorious Finsbury Park mosque--under tight surveillance. But in some quarters there was resentment that simply keeping tabs on radicals while they were in Britain did not stop London from being used as a recruitment and logistics center for operations elsewhere. Last year a self- professed former al-Qaeda associate in Pakistan told TIME that Muslim groups in Britain had specifically asked al-Qaeda "not to disturb London or other British cities" out of fear that an attack would "greatly hamper their ideological work."

In recent years, British authorities have taken a harder line on Islamic militants, busting suspected sleeper cells and detaining some radical clerics. Partly as a result of those actions, says Walid Phares, a professor of Middle East studies at Florida Atlantic University, "for the last six months, the tone and the language on [jihadist] websites has changed completely with regard to Great Britain. Once [jihadists] felt that the British are going after them significantly, they decided to go ahead and send the first blast."

As the work of law enforcement got under way, the part of life that is not dictated by the fear of terrorism resumed its rhythms. At Gleneagles, Blair read a statement on aid to Africa that he said offered a "hope that is the alternative to this hatred" represented by terrorism. The leaders also made pledges to raise $3 billion per year over the next three years for the Palestinian Authority. Some British Muslims expressed worries that they would be blamed for the bombs, but London police said they had heard no specific report of an incident considered to be a direct reprisal for the bomb attacks.