Britain remains on "severe" terrorism alert the second-highest level in the wake of the attacks. Police added patrols around the capital, where the first leg of the Tour de France bicycle race was taking place Saturday, along with the July 7 bombing anniversary, the Wimbledon tennis tournament, and a Live Earth concert starring Madonna. Brown and other government ministers left wreaths outside King's Cross rail and subway station in a somber remembrance of the bombings.
"It's amazing that it was two years ago," said John Salding, 63, whose girlfriend was among the 52 people killed in the 2005 suicide bombings. "My memories are all so fresh." Beverli Rhodes, 46, was on one of the trains when a bomb exploded.
She was thrown against a metal pole and suffered brain damage. She says she's still haunted by the bombings. "I (still) won't go on the Underground," she said.
The four suicide bombers struck three underground trains and one double-decker bus in 2005 in an attack with a trail leading back to al-Qaida training camps in Pakistan. More than 700 people were injured in the rush-hour attacks. A woman is comforted as she waits to lay a bouquet of flowers in a memorial garden outside King's Cross Station in London, to mark the second anniversary of the London bombings, Saturday July 7, 2007.
Britain marked the second anniversary Saturday of the London suicide bombings that killed 52 people, a grim reminder as the country confronted a new wave of terrorism and an Iraqi doctor was charged in the most recent foiled attacks. Counterterrorism agents say they have foiled several attacks since then in Britain a trans-Atlantic airliner plot last August in which a group planned to blow up as many as 10 airplanes and the most recent failed car bomb attacks in London and Glasgow. Besides Abdullah, seven other suspects remain in custody in the latest foiled attacks, including Kafeel Ahmed, who is hospitalized in critical condition in Scotland with severe burns.
They have not been charged. An FBI spokeswoman said Mohammed Asha and another suspect had contacted the Philadelphia-based Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates. Asha, a Jordanian physician of Palestinian heritage, contacted the agency within the last year, but apparently did not take the test for foreign medical school graduates, said the spokeswoman, Nancy O'Dowd.
Most of the suspects worked for Britain's health service. They come from countries in the Middle East and India. Seven of the suspects are being held in Britain and one in Australia.
Asha was arrested on a highway Saturday night along with his wife. In Jordan, security officials said he had no criminal record. A police van believed to be carrying Iraqi doctor Bilal Abdullah arrives at Westminster Magistrates Court in central London Saturday July 7, 2007, where he will appear on charges relating to recent car bomb attacks in London and Glasgow.
Abdullah was arrested at Glasgow airport after the car he was riding in allegedly rammed into an airport terminal building, and he is the first person to be charged in connection with the failed car bombings. Seven other suspects remained in custody. Britain's intelligence agencies are focusing on the suspects' international links, said one British intelligence official and another government official.
They spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to speak to the media. Kafeel Ahmed was initially identified as Khalid Ahmed, a doctor from Lebanon, but later as Kafeel Ahmed from Bangalore, India. "When we saw the footage of a person being carried to the hospital following the blast .
.. we identified that he was our son," The Times of India newspaper quoted Maqbool Ahmed as saying.
Kafeel's brother, 26-year-old Sabeel Ahmed, was detained in Liverpool in connection with the attacks, their father said. In Australia, police seized computers from two hospitals Friday as they explored connections between the British plotters and Muhammad Haneef, an Indian doctor arrested there. Associated Press correspondents Jill Lawless and Sharon Hong contributed to this report.
Britain remains on "severe" terrorism alert the second-highest level in the wake of the attacks.
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