Blasts Across London

Zawahri says al Qaeda behind London blasts-video

DUBAI (Reuters) - Al Qaeda carried out the July suicide bombings in London to strike at "British arrogance," the group's second-in-command Ayman al-Zawahri said in a video tape aired on Arab satellite channel Al Jazeera on Monday.

"The London attack is one of the attacks that al Qaeda ... had the honor of carrying out against ... British arrogance, the aggression of the crusader British against the Muslim nation for over a hundred years," Zawahri said.

He denounced Britain for "the historical crime of setting up Israel and the continuing crimes in Afghanistan and Iraq.

"These and other attacks have revealed the true hypocritical face of Western civilization that talks about human rights and freedom only as long as it is in its interest," he said, citing the planned toughening of British security laws after the London blasts.

A U.S. counterterrorism official said the tape was "al Qaeda's clearest public statement to date suggesting that they were responsible (for the London attack). But that in and of itself does not prove that al Qaeda planned or directed the attack. They're quite happy to take responsibility for any terrorist attack."

The U.S. official, who said the tape was still being reviewed by intelligence officials, said it was "still unclear what the nature and extent of their involvement (in London) was."

Zawahri denounced elections in Afghanistan, saying they were not free and were carried out under U.S. occupation. "These elections are a farce more than anything else," he said.

He insisted the Taliban were still powerful and said U.S. forces had to "hide" in their bases.

Al Jazeera said the tape was prepared by al Qaeda's media group al-Sahab, which distributes Islamic militant videos on the Internet, to mark the fourth anniversary of the Sept 11, 2001, attacks.

The video, excerpts of which were aired by TV network, had English subtitles and showed Zawahri apparently talking to an off-camera interviewer.

The U.S. counterterrorism official said the subtitles, along with the use of English speakers in past tapes, were a sign al Qaeda leaders wanted their messages to resonate better in the West and to get "better play" in the Western media.

"They are quite savvy on the propaganda front," he said.

In the latest tape, Zawahri, Osama bin Laden's right-hand man, also denounced reforms in the Muslim world promoted by the United States, saying Washington would not tolerate independent Islamic governments.

"The Americans will not allow any Islamic system to come to power even in the heart of the Muslim world unless it collaborates with them," said Zawahri, who wore a black turban and a white robe.

London bombers staged dry run to capital

LONDON (Reuters) - Three of the London suicide bombers staged a dry run to the capital just over a week before they blew themselves up on the transport network and killed 52 commuters, the police said on Tuesday.

Anti-terrorist police chief Peter Clarke told reporters that surveillance television footage showed three of the four bombers visited London on June 28 and spent nearly four hours travelling around the capital.

"The obvious suggestion is they possibly were conducting a reconnaissance on that day. We know that's part of terrorist methodology," said Clarke. "It was a dry run."

He said they travelled by train from Luton and arrived at Kings Cross station in London just before 9 a.m. They were then captured on CCTV cameras at Baker Street underground station and again at Kings Cross shortly before 1 p.m.

He said two of the men were carrying rucksacks but there was nothing to indicate there were bombs inside.

/jarmo