Here are profiles of what has been reported about four young British men of Pakistani origin who travelled to London last Thursday morning, each carrying a rucksack packed with explosives, and blew themselves up on three subway trains and a bus.
The police have yet to officially confirm media reports that the attacks, which left at least 52 people dead, were the work of suicide bombers, but British Home Secretary Charles Clarke spoke of the influences that led ”four young men to blow themselves and others up on the Tube on a Thursday morning”.
Bomber suspect number one: Shehzad Tanweer, aged 20 to 22, lived in Leeds, northern England, and is widely reported to have blown himself up on a subway train near Aldgate station, east London. The bombing left seven people dead.
Tanweer, who sometimes worked at his family’s fish-and-chip shop in a suburb of Leeds, was a good student who played cricket for a local team, friends told the British press.
With a brother and two sisters, he was described as a sporty man who loved martial arts, drove his father’s Mercedes around the streets and had many friends in the Beeston area of the city.
”He is as sound as a pound,” close friend, Azi Mohammed, told The Guardian.
”The idea that he was involved in terrorism or extremism is ridiculous. The idea that he went to London and exploded a bomb is unbelievable.”
Tanweer is thought to have gone to Lawnswood school in Beeston, before studying sports science at Leeds University. He did not have a regular job and is believed to have recently travelled to Pakistan, The Guardian said.
His father, Mohammed Mumtaz, was originally from the Faisalabad region of Pakistan, it added.
Bomber suspect number two: Mohammed Sadique Khan (30) from Dewsbury, a town about 14km from Leeds, is thought to have attacked a subway train at Edgware Road station, west London. Seven people died in the attack.
The Times newspaper said the man was the married father of an eight-month-old baby. He met his wife, whom he married two years ago, while a student at Leeds University, the Daily Mail reported.
Khan’s wife had been working as an area support assistant for the council in Leeds before giving birth to their child.
Bomber suspect number three: No name has been cited in the British press for the third suspect, who is believed to have blown himself up on a train between Russell Square and King’s Cross stations — the deadliest of the four attacks, leaving at least 25 people dead.
The Times said he came from Luton, north of London, where he met his three colleagues, who drove to the town in rented cars.
The four bombers are believed to have left Luton, which has a large Muslim population, and travelled together to King’s Cross on a commuter train.
Upon arrival at the station in central London, they said their farewells before launching their attacks in which more than 50 people died.
Bomber suspect number four: Hasib Hussain (19), also from Leeds, is widely accused of blowing himself up on the number-30 double-decker bus near Tavistock Square in Bloomsbury, central London, almost one hour after the subway bombings. The attack left 13 people dead.
An anxious call from Hussain’s mother who had been unable to contact her son immediately after the blasts reportedly led the police to unravel the identity of the four bombers by studying closed-circuit television footage.
The Times said Hussein had gone ”a bit wild” as a younger teenager, but had became devoutly religious about 18 months ago after returning from a trip to Pakistan to visit his relatives.
He lived with his Pakistani-born factory-worker parents in a rundown suburb of Leeds, the Daily Mail reported. As a child, he studied at the Matthew Murray High School.
Blair meets Muslim lawmakers
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Tony Blair met Muslim lawmakers on Wednesday to discuss the London bombings, his office said.
Blair has been quick to reassure Britain’s Muslim community. Earlier this week, he drew a distinction between ”Islamist extremist terrorists” likely to be behind the attacks, and the ”moderate and true voice of Islam”.
Blair met Mohammed Sarwar, Shahid Malik, Khalid Mahmood and Sadiq Khan, all members of the governing Labour Party.
SA police assist UK investigation
The South African police said on Tuesday they will provide any assistance required to help arrest those responsible for the ”murderous acts” in London last week.
”We are in contact with other law-enforcement agencies and will render the necessary support, including any assistance necessary in terms of identification of victims,” Director Sally de Beer said.
This follows reports that a South African woman has been implicated in the bombings, in which at least 52 people were killed and 700 others injured, and that her house in Leeds had been searched by British police.
”We are, however, not prepared to comment on the investigative processes, the identities of those involved or to speculate in any way,” De Beer said.
Two vehicles believed to be linked to Thursday’s bombings in London were found in a Luton car park and at a home belonging to a South African woman living in Leeds’ Dewsbury area for more than 20 years, The Star newspaper reported on Wednesday.
The woman originally hails from Germiston and was married to a British national who died a few years ago, the newspaper reported. — Sapa