London marks second anniversary of suicide bombings that killed 52

  • 12/15/2022
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LONDON, JULY 7, SPA -- Britain marked the second anniversary of theLondon suicide bombings Saturday, a grim reminder as thecountry confronted a new wave of terrorism, and an Iraqidoctor appeared in court on charges linked to the mostrecent foiled attacks, REPORTED AP. Bilal Abdullah, a 27-year-old doctor born in Britain andraised in Iraq, appeared in a London court amid tightsecurity after he and another man allegedly crashed agas-laden Jeep Cherokee into the main terminal ofScotland's largest airport. Charged with conspiring to cause explosions, he is one ofeight suspects accused in foiled car bomb attacks in Londonand Glasgow a week ago. Speaking only to confirm his nameand birth date, Abdullah will appear in court again on July27. Two cars packed with gas cylinders and nails werediscovered in London _ one outside a crowded nightclub, theother near Trafalgar Square. The Jeep Cherokee smashed intothe security barriers at Glasgow airport, not far fromwhere British Prime Minister Gordon Brown was born. Police added patrols around the capital, where the firstleg of the Tour de France cycle race was taking placeSaturday, along with the July 7 bombing anniversary, theWimbledon tennis tournament, and a Live Earth concertstarring Madonna. «It's amazing that it was two years ago,» said JohnSalding, 63, whose girlfriend was among the 52 peoplekilled in the 2005 suicide bombings. «My memories are allso fresh.» Brown and other government ministers left wreaths at theKing's Cross subway station in a somber remembrance of thebombings. Beverli Rhodes, 46, was on one of the trains when a bombexploded. She was thrown against a metal pole and sufferedbrain damage. She says she's still haunted by the bombings. «I (still) won't go on the Underground,» she said. The four suicide bombers struck three underground trainsand one double-decker bus in 2005 in an attack with a trailleading back to al-Qaida training camps in Pakistan. Morethan 700 people were injured in the rush-hour attacks. Counter-terrorism agents have foiled several attacks sincethen in Britain _ a trans-Atlantic airliner plot lastAugust in which a group planned to blow up as many as 10airplanes and the most recent failed car bomb attacks inLondon and Glasgow. Besides Abdullah, seven other suspects remain in custodyin the latest foiled attacks, including a man hospitalizedin critical condition in Scotland with severe burns. Two of the suspects had made inquiries about working inthe United States, the FBI said Friday. An FBI spokeswoman said Mohammed Asha and another suspecthad contacted the Philadelphia-based Educational Commissionfor Foreign Medical Graduates. Asha, a Jordanian physician of Palestinian heritage,contacted the agency within the last year, but apparentlydid not take the test for foreign medical school graduates,said the spokeswoman, Nancy O'Dowd. Most of the suspects worked for Britain's health service. They come from countries in the Middle East and India. Seven of the suspects are being held in Britain and one inAustralia. Asha was arrested on a highway Saturday night along withhis wife. In Jordan, security officials said Asha had nocriminal record. Britain's intelligence agencies are focusing on thesuspects' international links, said one Britishintelligence official and another government official. Theyspoke on condition of anonymity because they are notauthorized to speak to the media. Police also are reportedly trying to determine if Abdullahand the alleged driver of the Jeep, Kafeel Ahmed, had takenpart in the attempted bombings in London and whether theywere the ringleaders of a cell containing all the suspects. Ahmed was initially identified as Khalid Ahmed, a doctorfrom Lebanon, but later as Kafeel Ahmed from Bangalore,India, who holds a doctorate in aeronautical engineeringand studied at Queen's University in Belfast, NorthernIreland, and Anglia Polytechnic University in Cambridge,England. In Australia, police seized computers from two hospitalsFriday as they explored connections between the Britishplotters and Muhammad Haneef, an Indian doctor arrestedthere.--SPA www.spa.gov.sa/465480

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