Blair urges public to help catch London bombers

By Peter Griffiths

LONDON (Reuters) – British Prime Minister Tony Blair urged
the public to help catch London’s bombers, while newspapers
said two suspects were believed to be asylum seekers who had
received thousands of pounds in state welfare payments.

On another fast-moving day in Britain’s biggest manhunt,
police said on Monday two men had been arrested under
anti-terrorism laws — bringing the total in custody to five –
but warned they could not rule out another attack.

Police are still hunting for the four suspected bombers
behind botched attacks on London’s transport network on July 21
that have raised fears among residents that the city is now a
firm target for Islamist militants. On July 7, suicide bombers
killed 52 people on three underground railway trains and a bus.

“There will be people who know something. It is part of our
duty in order to protect the country that people come forward
and give the police the information that they can,” Blair told
reporters.

Armed police raided a housing estate in north London used
by at least one of the suspected bombers, as police chiefs said
they were racing against time to stop any further attacks by
militants they link to al Qaeda.

“BOMBER ON WELFARE PAYMENTS”

Newspapers said on Tuesday one suspect had lived in a flat
on the estate and had claimed 23,000 pounds ($39,990) of state
money or so-called “benefits” to pay the rent over six years.

Under the headline “Bomber on Benefits,” the top-selling
Sun tabloid said 24-year-old Yasin Hassan Omar — named on
Monday as one of the suspects pictured in security camera
footage — helped plot the July 21 attacks while living in the
flat.

It said the Home Office (interior ministry) was checking
his immigration status.

The Daily Mail said at least two of the suspects were
believed to have entered Britain as asylum seekers from East
Africa and had received state welfare payments.

No government officials were immediately available for
comment on the reports.

Immigration was a major political battleground when Britain
held national elections in May, with many voters concerned
about overcrowded public services and housing shortages.

Michael Howard, leader of the main opposition Conservative
Party, accused Blair at the time of “pussyfooting” on
immigration and said people wanted stricter controls. Opponents
accused him in turn of playing the “race card.”

The four suicide bombers who carried out the July 7 attacks
were all British Muslims, three of them of Pakistani origin.

Police released more pictures of the suspects involved in
the attempted July 21 attacks and gave details of the bombs.

Armed police and officers with dogs trained to sniff out
explosives patrolled the transport system and there were more
security alerts in the capital. The wail of sirens has become a
regular sound on London’s streets since the attacks.

London’s anti-terrorist police chief Peter Clarke said a
bomb found in a west London park was similar to those used in
the botched attacks.

Police were trying to establish if the device belonged to a
fifth man or if one of the attackers had carried two bombs.

Clarke said all the bombs had been packed in the same kind
of plastic food container and hidden in dark rucksacks.

The investigation suffered a setback at the weekend when
police said they had shot a Brazilian man in error after he was
mistaken for a suicide bomber.

Jean Charles de Menezes, 27, was shot in the head after
being chased onto an underground train by undercover police.

Three-quarters of the public thought bombings and security
scares would be part of London life for the foreseeable future,
according to an opinion poll published by the Times on Tuesday.