London blasts had no direct al Qaeda support-report

LONDON (Reuters) – The London bombings last July were
planned on a shoestring budget from information on the Internet
and with no direct support from al Qaeda, a British newspaper
on Sunday quoted a government report as saying.

The attacks on the London transport network that killed 52
people were the product of a “simple and inexpensive” plot
hatched by four British suicide bombers bent on martyrdom, the
Observer newspaper reported.

The four men had scoured “terror (Web) sites” on the
Internet and their knapsack bombs cost only a few hundred
pounds (dollars), The Observer said, citing a draft of the
government’s definitive report on the blasts.

Some terrorism experts have in the past cast doubt on
reports that bombers could learn how to make the devices from
the Internet.

After the July 7 attacks, police found an unused explosive
rucksack in the bombers’ abandoned car, leading to a manhunt
for a missing suspect, but the report concludes there was no
fifth bomber, the newspaper said.

The official report, due to be published in the next few
weeks, also found nothing to support the theory that an al
Qaeda fixer, presumed to be from Pakistan, helped plan the
attacks.

The report does conclude that the four suicide bombers were
partly inspired by ringleader Mohammad Sidique Khan’s trips to
Pakistan.

Three of the attackers who carried out western Europe’s
first suicide bombing were British-born men of Pakistani
origin, and the fourth was born in Jamaica.

The British government has rejected calls for a full public
inquiry into the London bombings, drawing criticism from
victims, politicians and pressure groups.

It has argued that an independent probe could prejudice
investigations into the attack.