London Bombers Going Down
By Ed Morrissey on War on Terror
Captain's Quarters
British authorities have arrested three men in connection to the London subway bombings on July 7, 2005. According to reports, they caught two of them just before the suspects boarded a flight to Pakistan:
<<< Three men have been arrested in connection with the July 7, 2005, bomb attacks on the London transport network, British police said in a statement.
Two men, aged 23 and 30, were held at Manchester airport in northern England shortly before 1 p.m. GMT on Thursday as they were due to catch a flight to Pakistan, New Scotland Yard said.
A third man, aged 26, was arrested hours later at a house in the nearby city of Leeds. Police were searching five addresses in the Leeds area as well as a flat and business premises in east London, the statement said.
"The three men were arrested on suspicion of the commission, preparation, or instigation of acts of terrorism under the Terrorism Act 2000," it read. >>>
This isn't the first time Leeds has figured in this story. Three of the suicide bombers came from Leeds, while a fourth came from southern England. The potential connection of suspected leadership to Leeds makes sense, considering the concentration of the perpetrators, but it seems a little odd that the others involved would have stayed there for almost two more years after the operation.
Why were the suspects flying back to Pakistan now? Perhaps they were going to initiate another terrorist attack and needed to go back to Pakistan for more resources and fresh orders. If so, British authorities probably have a good handle on it. After all, it's almost certain that they have tracked these suspected terror organizers for quite some time. The arrest at the airport would not have been a last-minute, oh-damn-we-have-to-nail-them operation. The Brits have likely followed these people for a long time, only acting when they were about to slip from their control.
As far as their destination goes, no one should be surprised to find out it was Pakistan. Unfortunately, Pervez Musharraf has allowed Islamist terrorism to metastasize in Waziristan, and the US and UK will have to start making some hard choices regarding Pakistan's sovereignty.
captainsquartersblog.com
cnn.com |
