DETECTIVES leading Britains
biggest manhunt made a desperate plea for public help last night as
it emerged that there have been no sightings of the four suicide
bombers since they fled five days ago.
Police named two of the men and released new pictures. Five
people are being questioned but none is believed to figure strongly
in the investigation.
None of the four main suspects has been
seen since 1.05pm on Thursday, minutes after the bungled attacks. It
emerged last night that the four attended Finsbury Park mosque,
North London and that two received benefits to rent a council flat.
A Populus poll for The Times showed that 74 per cent of
the public believe that terrorist bombings and scares are likely to
be part of life in London in future. There is support for deporting
foreign Muslims who encourage extremism while 70 per cent favour
police powers to hold terrorist suspects for up to 90 days without
charge.
Police know that three of the bombers assembled at Stockwell
Underground station before 12.25pm last Thursday. Scotland Yard
released a remarkable photograph of an unnamed suspect staring up as
he stands on a Tube train waiting for his bomb to blow up.
The device made a harmless pop like a champagne cork before the
train pulled into Oval station. At 12.35pm the man ran towards the
exit, pursued by members of the public.
He ran towards the centre of Brixton, throwing away his top with
the New York logo in Gosling Way, and was last seen in Tindall
Street at 12.45pm. Hundreds of officers have been checking the
bombers known addresses and questioning associates. Police believe
that they are at a prearranged safe house in London and fear that
they could be preparing more attacks.
Officers spent last night searching the flat at Curtis House, a
13-storey block on a council estate in Bounds Green, North London,
used by two of the bombers.
Police believe that this is where the devices were assembled.
They were packed in clear plastic 6.25-litre food canisters made in
India, which are sold at only 100 outlets in Britain.
Scotland Yard named two of the suspects after previous appeals
for help drew a disappointing response.
They are the bus bomber, Muktar Said-Ibrahim, 27, thought to be
Eritrean and who also uses the name Muktar Mohammed-Said, and Yasin
Hassan Omar, a Somali, the Warren Street bomber. Both are thought to
be asylum-seekers.
Omar, who was last seen vaulting a barrier at Warren Street
station, has been the registered occupant of the flat since 1999.
Ibrahim, who was last seen in Hackney Road, East London, after
his failed attempt to blow up a No 26 bus, shared it with him for
the past two years.
Omar, received £88 a week in housing benefit to pay for the
council property and also received income support, immigration
officials say. Police are close to confirming the identity of the
other two suspects and are trying to discover whether any of them
attended any overseas training camps.
Officers were also understood last night to be interviewing
Ibrahims father, who lives in Stanmore, North London.