My comments in bold.
THE REAL STORY OF 7/7
It was England's worst terrorist attack, killing 52 people and injuring more than 700. This week, the Home Office publishes its official account of the London suicide bombings of 7 July. Using police and intelligence records, Mark Townsend presents the definitive account of how four friends from northern England changed the face of western terrorism
Sunday May 7, 2006
The Observer
3am Hasib Hussain rolls sleepily from the sofa in the living room of his parents' home in Holbeck, Leeds. Dressed in the grey T-shirt, jeans and trainers that would become familiar to millions, the 18-year-old wanders through the red-bricked terraces of Beeston and waits outside the front door of his best friend, Shehzad Tanweer.
There is absolutely no evidence that any of the above scenario occurred. According to his father, Hasib Hussain was last seen by a family member at around 3.30pm on July 6th. On this basis, it cannot definitely be stated at what time he actually left the house, let alone where he went immediately after doing so.
3.15am In a deserted and dark Colwyn Road, Hussain and Tanweer, 22, stand beside a silver-blue Nissan Micra that Tanweer had hired days earlier. Although their movements at this stage are not captured on CCTV, it is thought they are now joined by Sidique Khan, 30, whose role as a primary school teaching assistant in Beeston had earned the respect of those still sleeping in the surrounding streets.
The only factual statement here is that they were not captured on CCTV. Therefore, again, how can it be stated with any certainty exactly what they did. Interestingly, the article refers to a "silver-blue Nissan Micra". Are they sure about that? This same newspaper refers to it as a 'blue Nissan Micra' in an earlier report; The Times reported it as a red Nissan Micra; The Mail described it as a 'silver Nissan Micra'. If the media can't even cohesively report on the simple issue of a car's colour, what hope is there for the rest of the story?
3.30am After a short drive across south Leeds, the trio pull up outside 18 Alexandra Grove, Hyde Park. Inside, lying in the bath upstairs, is the bomb-making factory that Khan had put together using recipes from the internet. Primitive in essence, the peroxide-based explosives were made from drain cleaner, bleach and acetone, bought without attracting suspicion in nearby shops. Costing a few hundred pounds, the London bombs, based on a derivative of TNT called triacetone triperoxide or TATP, were paid for by Khan. No evidence exists of support from al-Qaeda. Speculation that the four suicide bombers used the services of an Egyptian chemist studying at Leeds University are dismissed in the Home Office narrative, to be published on Thursday.
Once more, where is the evidence that Khan made the bombs? Why should anybody be expected to accept that he was the 'ringleader' when the authorities have not explained why they believe this to be the case, other than the fact that he was the eldest. The statement that the explosive components were 'bought without attracting suspicion in nearby shops' directly contradicts the reports that Lindsay spent £900 on perfume in three different shops in the Aylesbury area. This had apparently attracted the suspicion of his bank, who had rather curiously decided to hire private detectives to investigate Lindsay's spending habits.Moreover, saying 'No evidence exists of support from al-Qaeda' appears to contradict a report in the very same edition of the newspaper which carries this article today. The report is entitled "7/7 ringleader 'had direct link with terror cell" and also directly contradicts US Government consultant on Terrorism in Europe, Evan Kohlman, who after viewing the supposed al-Qaida-produced video of Mohammad Sidique Khan, said:
"There is zero percent doubt this is al-Qaida." He said the Khan tape was produced by the al-Sahab video company, which is controlled by al-Qaida, and the claim of responsibility for the July 7 attacks was done in the same way as its admission of carrying out the September 11 attacks on the US in 2001. Mr Kohlmann said: "I find it a little bit depressing that people don't realise this is al-Qaida's calling card. It shows how little some understand about al-Qaida."
Are the public going to receive an explanation for the question of exactly who - if it was not an al-Qa'ida 'claim of responsibility' - edited that video it to make it seem as if it was an al-Qa'ida production by intersplicing the scenes of Khan with those of Ayman al-Zawahri?
3:45am The trio carefully load five identical black rucksacks into the boot of the Nissan Micra. Each contains 10lb of explosive material with detonators packed inside plastic bottles, which in turn are packaged within containers from a nearby garden centre.
Interesting that this is the first mention in the media of the containers which were used to carry the bombs in the rucksacks since the The Mail first reported it - and could even name the precise store in which the containers had been bought, which they were able to do by the convenient discovery of the receipt which the men helpfully carried with them. Against the odds, this scrap of paper survived a blast which destroyed train carriages, buses and people. Yet another contradiction: The statement 'five identical rucksacks into the boot of the Nissan Micra' is at odds with an earlier report in this same newspaper which writes of a 'primed' rucksack being found underneath the passenger seat of the Micra. Leaving aside the logistics of fitting a bag that size under a car seat, this suggests that there were not five rucksacks in the boot of the car. Or if there were, one of the men carried two rucksacks. Either that or they took the trouble to move the fifth rucksack from the boot and squash it under the passenger seat instead, a manoeuvre that makes no sense whatsoever.
4am-5am Speed cameras track the car heading south through the city's leafy suburbs. To their left they pass Beeston, where Khan lives, an impoverished district of Leeds soon to become the focus of the world's media. The bombers join the southbound M1 at junction 40 and their progress is tracked as they journey south along the spine of England.
Many, many aspects of this statement are completely bizarre. 'Speed cameras track the car'? Unless they were consistently going through every speed camera on their journey at a speed-limit-breaking rate, there is no reason or justification for a speed camera being able to track them. Even if there is an error here and the article actually meant 'Traffic cameras', this still doesn't explain why they were 'tracked'. Who would be tracking them? Who would know at that point what the purpose of their journey was, for their 'progress' to be tracked as they journeyed south?
4.30am Germaine Lindsay says goodbye to his wife Samantha Lewthwaite, 21, heavily pregnant with their second child, and leaves their rented semi-detached home in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, in a hired red Fiat. Negotiating the B489, Lindsay arrives at Luton train station around 5am. The 19-year-old attaches a pay-and-display ticket to the vehicle's windscreen, from which DNA would later be extracted to identify his remains.
Samantha herself says that she asked Linsday to leave the house on the evening of July 6th, because she believed he was having an affair with another woman. She told the Sun newspaper:
"He left with a holdall and a bunch of door keys. I went to bed. Later that night I'm sure I heard him on the stairs and going into Abdullah's room. He must have been in there in the dead of night to kiss his little boy goodbye. He didn't get a chance when he left because I was angry."
This account bears absolutely no similarity to the one above. The issue of the DNA on his car park ticket which was used to identify his remains is also a confusing one. On July 14th, police said that the DNA identification process would "take some time"; yet Samantha says she was told on July 14th that the police had Lindsay's DNA, which was, they said,how they knew he was the perpetrator.
6:30am After 160 miles on the M1, the Nissan Micra turns off at junction 11, arriving at Luton train station car park at around 6:50am. There, amid the first of the day's commuters, is the imposing frame of Lindsay, a carpet fitter from Huddersfield. Like the others, Lindsay is judged in the narrative to have been exasperated by western foreign policy. Palestine, Chechyna and, in particular Iraq, are cited as factors motivating their deadly mission.
This states that the Micra arrived at Luton station car park at 'around 6:50am'. Other reports are much more exact with this time, saying;
"They arrived at Luton station at 6.51am, where they met Lindsay, 19, who had been waiting since 5am after travelling in another car."
The precision of the time at which they arrived suggests that it was taken from a timestamp of a CCTV camera which recorded them entering the car park. This is presumably how they knew Lindsay had been waiting there since 5am. Yet such footage has never been mentioned or shown. They have been 'judged' in the narrative to have been 'exasperated' by western foreign policy, yet no explanation is given as to how on earth the authorities know this, since the men were not, according to their friends, given to talking about politics. There is also no explanation as to how simple 'exasperation' causes the apparent knock-on effect of becoming a suicide bomber. Thousands of people all over the world, myself included, would have shared this exasperation but would be considerably less inclined to take such drastic action.
7am The four don their military-style rucksacks in the increasingly busy car park. Khan had loaded the Nissan Micra with more explosives than required. Contrary to speculation though, no fifth bomber was ever expected to carry a fifth rucksack of explosives holding two nail-encased bottles that were later found wedged beneath the front passenger seat. In the boot 14 components for explosive devices are also left. CCTV cameras, designed to capture car thieves, film the four engaged in a final prayer.
So, 'Khan loaded the Nissan Micra with more explosives than required' but 'contrary to speculation, though, no fifth bomber was ever expected to carry a fifth rucksack'. Why on earth did he do it then? If the men knew, as is being stated by the narrative, that theirs was a suicide mission, what's the use of leaving 'spare' bombs in the car, the only other purpose of which would be to lead the investigation very quickly back to the men.
7.21am Looking like day-trippers, the four stroll onto the southbound platform of Luton station. Leading the group is Hussain, his hands tucked in pockets. Lindsay follows, his white trainers poking from beneath a pair of loose jeans. Khan comes next, with only a white cap visible. Bringing up the rear is Tanweer, who had spent the previous night playing cricket. Tanweer appears relaxed, his rucksack slung over one shoulder.
All of this is based on the extremely suspect single frame CCTV image of the men entering Luton station. Aside from the anomalies of the image itself, it is a strange thing that the police only released this one, single image of the men together, in comparison to the myriad moving footage we were allowed to see for the so-called 'dummy run'. A plethora of evidence for a day that doesn't mean a thing and only shows that three of the men apparently took a trip to London, visiting none of the locations which were bombed on the 7th - but for the actual day itself, one blurred still image - where one can't even distinguish their facial features.
7:40am The four bombers catch a Thameslink train, which winds through the affluent commuter belt of Hertfordshire towards King's Cross.
As repeatedly pointed out, this train journey is physically impossible: See here.
8:26am The quartet are captured walking across the concourse of London's busiest station. They are chatting; Hussain is laughing. Minutes later, they are huddled in a final, earnest conversation.
This footage has never been shown.
8.42am Tanweer catches the Circle Line east towards the heart of the City, entering the second carriage of six on train number 204 where he stands by its rear sliding doors.
Not one eyewitness has ever backed up this story. Aldgate survivor Bruce Lait, who was in the bombed carriage, said he did not see anybody of Tanweer's description in the carriage.
8.43am Khan boards Circle Line train number 216 headed west. He stands by its first set of double doors in the second carriage.
This contradicts what was said by the only witness who claimed to have seen Khan, Danny Biddle:
"He was sitting by the first door of the train and I was standing about 10ft away. I noticed him reaching into his bag and he didn't say or do anything. He wasn't agitated or fidgety, he was very calm. He looked at me and looked around the carriage. Then he pulled some sort of cord."
According to Mr. Biddle, Khan was sitting - not standing. Furthermore, his description of Khan pulling 'some sort of cord' differs from what 'senior police sources' told The Guardian, which was that the bombs were triggered by 'button-like devices'.
8.49am Lindsay gets onto Piccadilly Line train number 311 travelling towards the West End and stands by rear doors in the front carriage. The train is described as 'extraordinarily full'. More than 900 passengers are crammed on board. Hussain, meanwhile, waits for a Northern Line service towards Camden.
There are several inaccuracies here. TFL stated they had made a mistake with the train number they originally gave as 311 and revised it to 331. This was verified by researcher Bridget Dunne. Why is this story still giving the train number as 311? The train was described as 'extraordinarily full'; an anonymous witness told a survivor that he had tried to board the train behind Lindsay and could not get on, the train was so full. In a few seconds, Lindsay had managed to board the train and fight his way down to the end of the carriage, carrying a large rucksack. The claim that Hussain waited for a Northern Line service is an odd one. It was stated on the day that the Northern Line was not running, and that had it been, the assumption was that Hussain would have boarded a train on that line in order to form some kind of 'burning cross' through London. This was based on a dubious claim of responsibility from an 'Islamist' website, calling itself the Secret Organisation Group of al-Qaeda of Jihad Organisation in Europe. None of this stands up now, since this article is claiming al-Qa'ida had nothing to do with the London Bombings. In addition, the Northern Line was running that morning, along with other lines on which Hussain could also have taken a Northern bound train.
8.50am Tanweer places his rucksack on the floor around 40 seconds after the tube pulls out from Liverpool Street. Twenty feet below Spitalfields' historical streets, the cricketer detonates his device. Yards away, Michael, a consultant, witnesses a 'flash of orange-yellow light and what appeared to be silver streaks, which I think was some of the glass going across.' Then, silence and darkness. Smothered in blood, Michael assumed he was dying.
Again, speculation. Nobody has publicly said they saw Tanweer, regardless of where he might have placed his rucksack.
8.51am Khan lowers his rucksack onto the floor next to his carriage's rear sliding doors less than 20 seconds after the train leaves Edgware Road station. Moments later, passengers recall 'an orange fireball' sweeping through carriages. John McDonald, a teacher, standing yards from where Khan killed himself, said: 'Small splintered pieces of glass were sticking in my head and face. I could not breathe; my lungs were burning.' Above ground, London Fire Brigade receive the first emergency call.
Where is the witness who saw Khan 'lower his rucksack on the floor'? Or indeed, any witness other than Danny Biddle, who states that Khan was sitting with his rucksack on his lap.
8.53am Lindsay's delayed train leaves King's Cross three minutes after the bombers' agreed deadline for simultaneous detonation. Train 311 has travelled just 261m towards Russell Square when Lindsay detonates his pack 20m below the district of St Pancras. Again, passengers hear a violent bang. For the third time in a matter of minutes, pitch blackness descended on a packed crowd of tube passengers.
The train sat at the station for four minutes? Why should this be so? For the incorrect train number, see above comment. Again, no eyewitness has stated they saw Lindsay apart from the anonymous person mentioned previously who apparently saw the back of his head when trying to board the train behind him.
8:55am Panic engulfs train 216, trapped below Paddington Basin. The low groans of the dying are heard. Shrieks emanate from outside carriages as passengers are hurled from the tube by the blast. McDonald sees a man known only as Stan trapped inside the hole where Khan had detonated his device. 'Stan was calm and conscious and looking at me.'
No other comment to make here other than the continued question of why Khan is definitively described here as the bomber, when this has never been publicly confirmed by the authorities. He is still referred to as a 'suspect'.
9am A broken-down train having thwarted his intention to catch the Northern Line, Hussain resurfaces, looking bewildered and bemused, onto the King's Cross concourse and stumbles into the first signs of pandemonium. The teenager wanders absent-mindedly into Boots the chemist before leaving the station.
See above for comment regarding the ability of Hussain to have caught the Northern Line train. The reference to Boots is based on the fact that a CCTV still of Hussain apparently exiting Boots was released the day after the Bali bombings last year. This image was captured at 9am exactly, according to the timestamp. The reference to the 'pandemonium' is presumably regarding the fact that the station was already being evacuated by the time this photo was taken. There are no signs of 'pandemonium' in the picture.
9:06am Inside train 206, passengers check bodies for a pulse. At least four are deemed dead. As the dust clears, a shaft of light illuminates Stan. His shirt has been blown off, the lower half of his charred body disappears beneath the mangled train floor. 'It was very peaceful and serene. The maintenance light from the tube threw a soft beam of light onto Stan's face,' said McDonald.
9.10am Emergency services are called to the underground. Moments later, the capital's alert system, devised in the wake of 9/11, is activated.
9.12am Passengers from train 204 fumble through the tunnel to Liverpool Street, past the twisted remains of the second carriage. Michael remembers bodies on the track. 'Two were motionless; one was just showing signs of movement.' In the gloom, he passes a woman blankly cradling the head of a hideously injured commuter. 'The whole body dynamic looked wrong, the way the lady was lying.' She is Martine Wright. She has lost both her legs above the knee. For another hour the 33-year-old will be held in the gloom, the last person to be pulled alive from the Aldgate tube bombing.
This fails to mention that some passengers made their way to Aldgate station and some exited at Aldgate East, giving some initial confusion as to where exactly the train had exploded.
9.15am Amid fears more explosions will follow, Transport for London chiefs decide to evacuate the entire underground system for the first time in the network's history. A series of 'bangs' is explained by a massive, mysterious power surge on the network. Seemingly alone in the darkness, McDonald attempts to keep Stan alive. 'I kept on telling him not to worry. I asked that, if he understood me, to blink his eyes twice, which he did.'
A 'mysterious' power surge? Why were the public initially told that a power surge had occurred on the underground, even though the National Grid denied it immediately? Even allowing for the confusion of the event, it would surely have been apparent very quickly that it was not power surges.
9:16am First passengers to escape train 311 reach Russell Square after 15-minute walk through tunnel. Many are injured, some have blood pouring from their ears. Commuters claim no ambulance or doctors are waiting for them. Chaos descends upon the capital. Metropolitan police told by the underground control centre that explosions have occurred.
No ambulances or doctors waiting, despite the knowledge of an underground incident. Survivor Angelo Power described an agonising 30 minute wait before passengers were allowed to leave the train.
9:10am Hussain wanders along the gridlocked Euston Road. He calls Khan. There is no answer. He dials Tanweer. Again nothing. Lindsay, too, is incommunicado. He leaves messages for all three, the youngster's tone increasingly frantic. At the same time, TfL change their explanation of events from 'power surge' to 'network emergency'. Scotland Yard announce there have been seven major 'incidents'.
In other reports, Hussain was alleged to have made the phone calls at 9am. Since he was pictured leaving Boots at 9am this would not be possible. He was also reported to have been eating in McDonalds when he makes the calls. This does not match up with a report in The Times that investigators could tell Hussain was walking fast as he made the calls.
9:25am Those wounded in the Aldgate blast taken by bus with police escorts to the Royal London hospital. Meanwhile, on train 216, McDonald draws strength from Stan's bravery. 'I could see he was dying from his injuries. He never shouted or cried. He knew he was dying, he remained calm and peaceful.'
9:30am More than 150 bleeding and soot-smothered passengers emerge from Edgware Road station and congregate outside a nearby Marks & Spencer store. Former fireman Paul Dadge ushers Davinia Turrell, 24, from the scene as she clutches a surgical burns mask to her face. The photograph of the 'mask woman' becomes the first iconic image of 7 July.
9.33am Half-a-mile-away Hussain boards number 30 bus which has been diverted off the now closed Euston Road. As the double-decker crawls south along Woburn Place, Hussain sits down at the rear of the upper floor.
Some reports claim that the number 30 was the second bus that Hussain had taken, after previously boarding another on the Euston Road. There are no witnesses who saw Hussain on the bus. One claimed to have seen a man with a rucksack, but in the pictures taken in the immediate aftermath of the bus explosion, there are at least two men with rucksacks seen standing on the upper deck. The only person who claimed to have seen Hussain was Richard Jones who quite clearly, from the description he gave of the man he saw, did not.
9.35am Aboard train 216, two passengers appear from the gloom and, taking guidance from McDonald, squeeze beneath the second carriage and finally free Stan. 'One of the men was calling Stan's pulse to me, which was fading and finally stopped. He died being held by his fellow passengers. They laid him down gently on the track.'
9:38am Bus passengers note a peculiarly distracted 'man of Mediterranean appearance' who keeps dipping into his rucksack at the rear of the number 30 bus to Hackney.
As stated above, the description given by one passenger in no way describes Hasib Hussain.
9.40am British Transport Police announce major incidents on the underground at five stations. Scores of ambulances arrive at affected stations.
9.47am Bomb explodes on number 30 bus in Tavistock Square outside the British Medical Association. Two minutes later, police receive a 999 call from the scene. 'There's people lying on the road. There's people trying to get out. I think there's an ambulance on the way, but there's people dead and everything,' said one.
Oddities regarding the bus explosion here, and here. There is also the strange identification of Hussain due to the injuries he apparently sustained due to the force of his strap-on explosives. Yet he was supposedly carrying his bomb in a rucksack.
Here the Home Office narrative ends. Within hours, Islamic terrorist groups attempt to claim responsibility. That the perpetrators might be four British men acting alone is not contemplated.
The idea that the men were acting alone was 'not contemplated'. Well, it wasn't - until the revelation that the suspected 'mastermind', Haroon Rashid Aswat was an MI6 asset.
10.00pm More than 12 hours later, in the lounge of a terraced home in Holbeck, Leeds, a mother is fretting. Her teenage son was meant to be in London for a night out with 'mates'. Unable to contact him, Maniza Hussain contacts Scotland Yard's missing persons helpline. The police get their first break.
In fact, Hussain had not told his mother he was going to London for a 'night out' but had told his parents he would be back on Thursday.
THE REAL STORY OF 7/7
It was England's worst terrorist attack, killing 52 people and injuring more than 700. This week, the Home Office publishes its official account of the London suicide bombings of 7 July. Using police and intelligence records, Mark Townsend presents the definitive account of how four friends from northern England changed the face of western terrorism
Sunday May 7, 2006
The Observer
3am Hasib Hussain rolls sleepily from the sofa in the living room of his parents' home in Holbeck, Leeds. Dressed in the grey T-shirt, jeans and trainers that would become familiar to millions, the 18-year-old wanders through the red-bricked terraces of Beeston and waits outside the front door of his best friend, Shehzad Tanweer.
There is absolutely no evidence that any of the above scenario occurred. According to his father, Hasib Hussain was last seen by a family member at around 3.30pm on July 6th. On this basis, it cannot definitely be stated at what time he actually left the house, let alone where he went immediately after doing so.
3.15am In a deserted and dark Colwyn Road, Hussain and Tanweer, 22, stand beside a silver-blue Nissan Micra that Tanweer had hired days earlier. Although their movements at this stage are not captured on CCTV, it is thought they are now joined by Sidique Khan, 30, whose role as a primary school teaching assistant in Beeston had earned the respect of those still sleeping in the surrounding streets.
The only factual statement here is that they were not captured on CCTV. Therefore, again, how can it be stated with any certainty exactly what they did. Interestingly, the article refers to a "silver-blue Nissan Micra". Are they sure about that? This same newspaper refers to it as a 'blue Nissan Micra' in an earlier report; The Times reported it as a red Nissan Micra; The Mail described it as a 'silver Nissan Micra'. If the media can't even cohesively report on the simple issue of a car's colour, what hope is there for the rest of the story?
3.30am After a short drive across south Leeds, the trio pull up outside 18 Alexandra Grove, Hyde Park. Inside, lying in the bath upstairs, is the bomb-making factory that Khan had put together using recipes from the internet. Primitive in essence, the peroxide-based explosives were made from drain cleaner, bleach and acetone, bought without attracting suspicion in nearby shops. Costing a few hundred pounds, the London bombs, based on a derivative of TNT called triacetone triperoxide or TATP, were paid for by Khan. No evidence exists of support from al-Qaeda. Speculation that the four suicide bombers used the services of an Egyptian chemist studying at Leeds University are dismissed in the Home Office narrative, to be published on Thursday.
Once more, where is the evidence that Khan made the bombs? Why should anybody be expected to accept that he was the 'ringleader' when the authorities have not explained why they believe this to be the case, other than the fact that he was the eldest. The statement that the explosive components were 'bought without attracting suspicion in nearby shops' directly contradicts the reports that Lindsay spent £900 on perfume in three different shops in the Aylesbury area. This had apparently attracted the suspicion of his bank, who had rather curiously decided to hire private detectives to investigate Lindsay's spending habits.Moreover, saying 'No evidence exists of support from al-Qaeda' appears to contradict a report in the very same edition of the newspaper which carries this article today. The report is entitled "7/7 ringleader 'had direct link with terror cell" and also directly contradicts US Government consultant on Terrorism in Europe, Evan Kohlman, who after viewing the supposed al-Qaida-produced video of Mohammad Sidique Khan, said:
"There is zero percent doubt this is al-Qaida." He said the Khan tape was produced by the al-Sahab video company, which is controlled by al-Qaida, and the claim of responsibility for the July 7 attacks was done in the same way as its admission of carrying out the September 11 attacks on the US in 2001. Mr Kohlmann said: "I find it a little bit depressing that people don't realise this is al-Qaida's calling card. It shows how little some understand about al-Qaida."
Are the public going to receive an explanation for the question of exactly who - if it was not an al-Qa'ida 'claim of responsibility' - edited that video it to make it seem as if it was an al-Qa'ida production by intersplicing the scenes of Khan with those of Ayman al-Zawahri?
3:45am The trio carefully load five identical black rucksacks into the boot of the Nissan Micra. Each contains 10lb of explosive material with detonators packed inside plastic bottles, which in turn are packaged within containers from a nearby garden centre.
Interesting that this is the first mention in the media of the containers which were used to carry the bombs in the rucksacks since the The Mail first reported it - and could even name the precise store in which the containers had been bought, which they were able to do by the convenient discovery of the receipt which the men helpfully carried with them. Against the odds, this scrap of paper survived a blast which destroyed train carriages, buses and people. Yet another contradiction: The statement 'five identical rucksacks into the boot of the Nissan Micra' is at odds with an earlier report in this same newspaper which writes of a 'primed' rucksack being found underneath the passenger seat of the Micra. Leaving aside the logistics of fitting a bag that size under a car seat, this suggests that there were not five rucksacks in the boot of the car. Or if there were, one of the men carried two rucksacks. Either that or they took the trouble to move the fifth rucksack from the boot and squash it under the passenger seat instead, a manoeuvre that makes no sense whatsoever.
4am-5am Speed cameras track the car heading south through the city's leafy suburbs. To their left they pass Beeston, where Khan lives, an impoverished district of Leeds soon to become the focus of the world's media. The bombers join the southbound M1 at junction 40 and their progress is tracked as they journey south along the spine of England.
Many, many aspects of this statement are completely bizarre. 'Speed cameras track the car'? Unless they were consistently going through every speed camera on their journey at a speed-limit-breaking rate, there is no reason or justification for a speed camera being able to track them. Even if there is an error here and the article actually meant 'Traffic cameras', this still doesn't explain why they were 'tracked'. Who would be tracking them? Who would know at that point what the purpose of their journey was, for their 'progress' to be tracked as they journeyed south?
4.30am Germaine Lindsay says goodbye to his wife Samantha Lewthwaite, 21, heavily pregnant with their second child, and leaves their rented semi-detached home in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, in a hired red Fiat. Negotiating the B489, Lindsay arrives at Luton train station around 5am. The 19-year-old attaches a pay-and-display ticket to the vehicle's windscreen, from which DNA would later be extracted to identify his remains.
Samantha herself says that she asked Linsday to leave the house on the evening of July 6th, because she believed he was having an affair with another woman. She told the Sun newspaper:
"He left with a holdall and a bunch of door keys. I went to bed. Later that night I'm sure I heard him on the stairs and going into Abdullah's room. He must have been in there in the dead of night to kiss his little boy goodbye. He didn't get a chance when he left because I was angry."
This account bears absolutely no similarity to the one above. The issue of the DNA on his car park ticket which was used to identify his remains is also a confusing one. On July 14th, police said that the DNA identification process would "take some time"; yet Samantha says she was told on July 14th that the police had Lindsay's DNA, which was, they said,how they knew he was the perpetrator.
6:30am After 160 miles on the M1, the Nissan Micra turns off at junction 11, arriving at Luton train station car park at around 6:50am. There, amid the first of the day's commuters, is the imposing frame of Lindsay, a carpet fitter from Huddersfield. Like the others, Lindsay is judged in the narrative to have been exasperated by western foreign policy. Palestine, Chechyna and, in particular Iraq, are cited as factors motivating their deadly mission.
This states that the Micra arrived at Luton station car park at 'around 6:50am'. Other reports are much more exact with this time, saying;
"They arrived at Luton station at 6.51am, where they met Lindsay, 19, who had been waiting since 5am after travelling in another car."
The precision of the time at which they arrived suggests that it was taken from a timestamp of a CCTV camera which recorded them entering the car park. This is presumably how they knew Lindsay had been waiting there since 5am. Yet such footage has never been mentioned or shown. They have been 'judged' in the narrative to have been 'exasperated' by western foreign policy, yet no explanation is given as to how on earth the authorities know this, since the men were not, according to their friends, given to talking about politics. There is also no explanation as to how simple 'exasperation' causes the apparent knock-on effect of becoming a suicide bomber. Thousands of people all over the world, myself included, would have shared this exasperation but would be considerably less inclined to take such drastic action.
7am The four don their military-style rucksacks in the increasingly busy car park. Khan had loaded the Nissan Micra with more explosives than required. Contrary to speculation though, no fifth bomber was ever expected to carry a fifth rucksack of explosives holding two nail-encased bottles that were later found wedged beneath the front passenger seat. In the boot 14 components for explosive devices are also left. CCTV cameras, designed to capture car thieves, film the four engaged in a final prayer.
So, 'Khan loaded the Nissan Micra with more explosives than required' but 'contrary to speculation, though, no fifth bomber was ever expected to carry a fifth rucksack'. Why on earth did he do it then? If the men knew, as is being stated by the narrative, that theirs was a suicide mission, what's the use of leaving 'spare' bombs in the car, the only other purpose of which would be to lead the investigation very quickly back to the men.
7.21am Looking like day-trippers, the four stroll onto the southbound platform of Luton station. Leading the group is Hussain, his hands tucked in pockets. Lindsay follows, his white trainers poking from beneath a pair of loose jeans. Khan comes next, with only a white cap visible. Bringing up the rear is Tanweer, who had spent the previous night playing cricket. Tanweer appears relaxed, his rucksack slung over one shoulder.
All of this is based on the extremely suspect single frame CCTV image of the men entering Luton station. Aside from the anomalies of the image itself, it is a strange thing that the police only released this one, single image of the men together, in comparison to the myriad moving footage we were allowed to see for the so-called 'dummy run'. A plethora of evidence for a day that doesn't mean a thing and only shows that three of the men apparently took a trip to London, visiting none of the locations which were bombed on the 7th - but for the actual day itself, one blurred still image - where one can't even distinguish their facial features.
7:40am The four bombers catch a Thameslink train, which winds through the affluent commuter belt of Hertfordshire towards King's Cross.
As repeatedly pointed out, this train journey is physically impossible: See here.
8:26am The quartet are captured walking across the concourse of London's busiest station. They are chatting; Hussain is laughing. Minutes later, they are huddled in a final, earnest conversation.
This footage has never been shown.
8.42am Tanweer catches the Circle Line east towards the heart of the City, entering the second carriage of six on train number 204 where he stands by its rear sliding doors.
Not one eyewitness has ever backed up this story. Aldgate survivor Bruce Lait, who was in the bombed carriage, said he did not see anybody of Tanweer's description in the carriage.
8.43am Khan boards Circle Line train number 216 headed west. He stands by its first set of double doors in the second carriage.
This contradicts what was said by the only witness who claimed to have seen Khan, Danny Biddle:
"He was sitting by the first door of the train and I was standing about 10ft away. I noticed him reaching into his bag and he didn't say or do anything. He wasn't agitated or fidgety, he was very calm. He looked at me and looked around the carriage. Then he pulled some sort of cord."
According to Mr. Biddle, Khan was sitting - not standing. Furthermore, his description of Khan pulling 'some sort of cord' differs from what 'senior police sources' told The Guardian, which was that the bombs were triggered by 'button-like devices'.
8.49am Lindsay gets onto Piccadilly Line train number 311 travelling towards the West End and stands by rear doors in the front carriage. The train is described as 'extraordinarily full'. More than 900 passengers are crammed on board. Hussain, meanwhile, waits for a Northern Line service towards Camden.
There are several inaccuracies here. TFL stated they had made a mistake with the train number they originally gave as 311 and revised it to 331. This was verified by researcher Bridget Dunne. Why is this story still giving the train number as 311? The train was described as 'extraordinarily full'; an anonymous witness told a survivor that he had tried to board the train behind Lindsay and could not get on, the train was so full. In a few seconds, Lindsay had managed to board the train and fight his way down to the end of the carriage, carrying a large rucksack. The claim that Hussain waited for a Northern Line service is an odd one. It was stated on the day that the Northern Line was not running, and that had it been, the assumption was that Hussain would have boarded a train on that line in order to form some kind of 'burning cross' through London. This was based on a dubious claim of responsibility from an 'Islamist' website, calling itself the Secret Organisation Group of al-Qaeda of Jihad Organisation in Europe. None of this stands up now, since this article is claiming al-Qa'ida had nothing to do with the London Bombings. In addition, the Northern Line was running that morning, along with other lines on which Hussain could also have taken a Northern bound train.
8.50am Tanweer places his rucksack on the floor around 40 seconds after the tube pulls out from Liverpool Street. Twenty feet below Spitalfields' historical streets, the cricketer detonates his device. Yards away, Michael, a consultant, witnesses a 'flash of orange-yellow light and what appeared to be silver streaks, which I think was some of the glass going across.' Then, silence and darkness. Smothered in blood, Michael assumed he was dying.
Again, speculation. Nobody has publicly said they saw Tanweer, regardless of where he might have placed his rucksack.
8.51am Khan lowers his rucksack onto the floor next to his carriage's rear sliding doors less than 20 seconds after the train leaves Edgware Road station. Moments later, passengers recall 'an orange fireball' sweeping through carriages. John McDonald, a teacher, standing yards from where Khan killed himself, said: 'Small splintered pieces of glass were sticking in my head and face. I could not breathe; my lungs were burning.' Above ground, London Fire Brigade receive the first emergency call.
Where is the witness who saw Khan 'lower his rucksack on the floor'? Or indeed, any witness other than Danny Biddle, who states that Khan was sitting with his rucksack on his lap.
8.53am Lindsay's delayed train leaves King's Cross three minutes after the bombers' agreed deadline for simultaneous detonation. Train 311 has travelled just 261m towards Russell Square when Lindsay detonates his pack 20m below the district of St Pancras. Again, passengers hear a violent bang. For the third time in a matter of minutes, pitch blackness descended on a packed crowd of tube passengers.
The train sat at the station for four minutes? Why should this be so? For the incorrect train number, see above comment. Again, no eyewitness has stated they saw Lindsay apart from the anonymous person mentioned previously who apparently saw the back of his head when trying to board the train behind him.
8:55am Panic engulfs train 216, trapped below Paddington Basin. The low groans of the dying are heard. Shrieks emanate from outside carriages as passengers are hurled from the tube by the blast. McDonald sees a man known only as Stan trapped inside the hole where Khan had detonated his device. 'Stan was calm and conscious and looking at me.'
No other comment to make here other than the continued question of why Khan is definitively described here as the bomber, when this has never been publicly confirmed by the authorities. He is still referred to as a 'suspect'.
9am A broken-down train having thwarted his intention to catch the Northern Line, Hussain resurfaces, looking bewildered and bemused, onto the King's Cross concourse and stumbles into the first signs of pandemonium. The teenager wanders absent-mindedly into Boots the chemist before leaving the station.
See above for comment regarding the ability of Hussain to have caught the Northern Line train. The reference to Boots is based on the fact that a CCTV still of Hussain apparently exiting Boots was released the day after the Bali bombings last year. This image was captured at 9am exactly, according to the timestamp. The reference to the 'pandemonium' is presumably regarding the fact that the station was already being evacuated by the time this photo was taken. There are no signs of 'pandemonium' in the picture.
9:06am Inside train 206, passengers check bodies for a pulse. At least four are deemed dead. As the dust clears, a shaft of light illuminates Stan. His shirt has been blown off, the lower half of his charred body disappears beneath the mangled train floor. 'It was very peaceful and serene. The maintenance light from the tube threw a soft beam of light onto Stan's face,' said McDonald.
9.10am Emergency services are called to the underground. Moments later, the capital's alert system, devised in the wake of 9/11, is activated.
9.12am Passengers from train 204 fumble through the tunnel to Liverpool Street, past the twisted remains of the second carriage. Michael remembers bodies on the track. 'Two were motionless; one was just showing signs of movement.' In the gloom, he passes a woman blankly cradling the head of a hideously injured commuter. 'The whole body dynamic looked wrong, the way the lady was lying.' She is Martine Wright. She has lost both her legs above the knee. For another hour the 33-year-old will be held in the gloom, the last person to be pulled alive from the Aldgate tube bombing.
This fails to mention that some passengers made their way to Aldgate station and some exited at Aldgate East, giving some initial confusion as to where exactly the train had exploded.
9.15am Amid fears more explosions will follow, Transport for London chiefs decide to evacuate the entire underground system for the first time in the network's history. A series of 'bangs' is explained by a massive, mysterious power surge on the network. Seemingly alone in the darkness, McDonald attempts to keep Stan alive. 'I kept on telling him not to worry. I asked that, if he understood me, to blink his eyes twice, which he did.'
A 'mysterious' power surge? Why were the public initially told that a power surge had occurred on the underground, even though the National Grid denied it immediately? Even allowing for the confusion of the event, it would surely have been apparent very quickly that it was not power surges.
9:16am First passengers to escape train 311 reach Russell Square after 15-minute walk through tunnel. Many are injured, some have blood pouring from their ears. Commuters claim no ambulance or doctors are waiting for them. Chaos descends upon the capital. Metropolitan police told by the underground control centre that explosions have occurred.
No ambulances or doctors waiting, despite the knowledge of an underground incident. Survivor Angelo Power described an agonising 30 minute wait before passengers were allowed to leave the train.
9:10am Hussain wanders along the gridlocked Euston Road. He calls Khan. There is no answer. He dials Tanweer. Again nothing. Lindsay, too, is incommunicado. He leaves messages for all three, the youngster's tone increasingly frantic. At the same time, TfL change their explanation of events from 'power surge' to 'network emergency'. Scotland Yard announce there have been seven major 'incidents'.
In other reports, Hussain was alleged to have made the phone calls at 9am. Since he was pictured leaving Boots at 9am this would not be possible. He was also reported to have been eating in McDonalds when he makes the calls. This does not match up with a report in The Times that investigators could tell Hussain was walking fast as he made the calls.
9:25am Those wounded in the Aldgate blast taken by bus with police escorts to the Royal London hospital. Meanwhile, on train 216, McDonald draws strength from Stan's bravery. 'I could see he was dying from his injuries. He never shouted or cried. He knew he was dying, he remained calm and peaceful.'
9:30am More than 150 bleeding and soot-smothered passengers emerge from Edgware Road station and congregate outside a nearby Marks & Spencer store. Former fireman Paul Dadge ushers Davinia Turrell, 24, from the scene as she clutches a surgical burns mask to her face. The photograph of the 'mask woman' becomes the first iconic image of 7 July.
9.33am Half-a-mile-away Hussain boards number 30 bus which has been diverted off the now closed Euston Road. As the double-decker crawls south along Woburn Place, Hussain sits down at the rear of the upper floor.
Some reports claim that the number 30 was the second bus that Hussain had taken, after previously boarding another on the Euston Road. There are no witnesses who saw Hussain on the bus. One claimed to have seen a man with a rucksack, but in the pictures taken in the immediate aftermath of the bus explosion, there are at least two men with rucksacks seen standing on the upper deck. The only person who claimed to have seen Hussain was Richard Jones who quite clearly, from the description he gave of the man he saw, did not.
9.35am Aboard train 216, two passengers appear from the gloom and, taking guidance from McDonald, squeeze beneath the second carriage and finally free Stan. 'One of the men was calling Stan's pulse to me, which was fading and finally stopped. He died being held by his fellow passengers. They laid him down gently on the track.'
9:38am Bus passengers note a peculiarly distracted 'man of Mediterranean appearance' who keeps dipping into his rucksack at the rear of the number 30 bus to Hackney.
As stated above, the description given by one passenger in no way describes Hasib Hussain.
9.40am British Transport Police announce major incidents on the underground at five stations. Scores of ambulances arrive at affected stations.
9.47am Bomb explodes on number 30 bus in Tavistock Square outside the British Medical Association. Two minutes later, police receive a 999 call from the scene. 'There's people lying on the road. There's people trying to get out. I think there's an ambulance on the way, but there's people dead and everything,' said one.
Oddities regarding the bus explosion here, and here. There is also the strange identification of Hussain due to the injuries he apparently sustained due to the force of his strap-on explosives. Yet he was supposedly carrying his bomb in a rucksack.
Here the Home Office narrative ends. Within hours, Islamic terrorist groups attempt to claim responsibility. That the perpetrators might be four British men acting alone is not contemplated.
The idea that the men were acting alone was 'not contemplated'. Well, it wasn't - until the revelation that the suspected 'mastermind', Haroon Rashid Aswat was an MI6 asset.
10.00pm More than 12 hours later, in the lounge of a terraced home in Holbeck, Leeds, a mother is fretting. Her teenage son was meant to be in London for a night out with 'mates'. Unable to contact him, Maniza Hussain contacts Scotland Yard's missing persons helpline. The police get their first break.
In fact, Hussain had not told his mother he was going to London for a 'night out' but had told his parents he would be back on Thursday.
7 comments:
If this is really based on police and intelligence records, I want to know on what grounds Mark Townsend is given access to this information when others, like Bridget Dunne, are being denied it.
Maybe it's a dry run for the Home Office narrative. It will be interesting to see how many of your corrections they incorporate.
Mark Townsend is a creep, I remember Milan Rai basing much of his lies on articles written by Townsend. BTW, love the blog, will distribute far and wide.
Townsend = shill 4 rent.
Interesting. What is the source for the 'official story' in the light type?
Some of the inconsistencies may just be journalistic errors.
The source was an article in The Observer. Many of the same errors are contained in the official government narrative of events. There is a shredding of the official document on the J7 forum.
Your so called theories are so tenuous it beggars belief. Most of your claims are based on hearsay, and you seem to think that mismatches in information in the "media" therefore creates doubt. Newspapers, tv news and others contradict each other all the time and you see, to think this acts as some sort of proof of a conspiracy.
I find it offensive that you claim that certain survivors are employed by MI5 to discredit other theories. It's an insult to anyone who survived the blasts. Why dont you spend your time doing something constructive... Poor poor site.
James C
That Angelo Power link now leads to the page where Angelo Powers comments have been deleted from the article but name still appears, bizzare.
@ LC
If you scroll down the Democracy Now article you'll find the Angelo Power interview.
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