Another Claim of London Blasts by Al-Qaeda

DUBAI, July 9, 2005 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – In the second claim of the bloody blasts, Al-Qaeda said Saturday, July 9, it was responsible for the London bombings and warned that more attacks would follow.

"A group of mujahedeen from a division of the Abu Hafs Al-Masri Brigades piled blow after blow on the infidel capital, the British capital, leaving dead and injured," read an Internet statement, whose authenticity could not be verified, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).

At least 50 people were killed and more than 700 others wounded when four blasts ripped through London's public transport network on Thursday, July 7.

"The next days will be marked by the biggest demonstrations of jihad against those who have declared war on Islam and Muslims," warned the statement.

Abu Hafs Al-Masri Brigades has previously claimed responsibility for the March 2004 Madrid train bombings in which 191 people died and twin bombings in Istanbul in November 2003 that killed 25 people.

"We will only calm down when security is a reality in the land of Islam and for Muslims in Iraq, Afghanistan and Palestine," said the statement.

This is the second claim of responsibility for the London bombings by a group purporting to be an Al-Qaeda affiliate.

Shortly after Thursday's attacks, a statement was posted in the name of a previously unknown group, the Secret Group of Al-Qaeda's Jihad in Europe, claiming the blasts.

Imams across Britain were united Friday, July 8, in condemning the attacks in their weekly sermons, encouraging Muslims to offer all possible assistance to the victims and authorities.

The grisly attacks also drew immediate condemnation from scholars, officials and even individuals from across the Muslim world, who said that such “black actions” run in the face of Islam which strictly forbids killing civilians.

Hunting Suspects

Investigators have not as yet named any suspects in connection with the worst attack Britain has known since World War II.

But some newspapers said police had asked European counterparts for information on Moroccan Mohammad Al-Garbuzi, who lived in Britain for 16 years before vanishing from his north London home last year, reportedly to France.

Garbuzi, 45, heads the Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group (GICM), blamed for attacks that killed 45 people in the Moroccan city of Casablanca in May 2003.

The Independent said Garbuzi was linked to Abu Qatada, a Palestinian based in London who is considered the “spiritual head” of Al-Qaeda in Europe, and who is currently detained under British anti-terrorism laws.

Another paper, the Sun, said police were also hunting Syrian-born Spanish national Mustafa Setmariam Nasar, thought to have links to a Spanish Al-Qaeda cell dismantled after the 9/11 attacks.

According to several reports, Nasar lived in London between 1995 and 1998.

Police said they have made no arrests so far related to the bombings and have no conclusive evidence as to the perpetrators.

London's Metropolitan Police would “bend every sinew” in hunting the bombers, London's police chief, Commissioner Ian Blair, told reporters at a Friday news conference.

A key part of the investigation is likely to be the painstaking examination of hours of security camera footage, both on the underground and around Tavistock Square, where a bomb blew apart a Number 30 bus, killing at least 13 people.