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A closed-circuit TV image released by the Metropolitan Police shows the four London bombers arriving at Luton railway station at 7:21 a.m. local time on Thursday, July 7, 2005. The image shows, from left to right, Hasib Hussain, Jermaine Lindsay (dark cap), Mohammed Sidique Khan (light cap), and Shahzad Tanweer. (AP Photo/Metropolitan Police)
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INDEPTH: LONDON BOMBING
London police investigation timeline
CBC News Online | Updated August 11, 2005
The police investigation into the London bombings is unique in its scale and scope. A death toll of 56 people, including the four bombers. The first suicide bombings in Western Europe. The largest crime scene in British history.
The trail of clues has led from London to nearby Luton, to Leeds in the north of the country, and to Cairo.
A second wave of bombers two weeks later failed in their attempt kill London commuters again, and left even more clues for police to work with.
The following is a timeline of the police investigation and details of the case as they were announced:
Aug. 11, 2005:
British police detain 10 foreigners, one of them Jordanian cleric Abu Qatada, with deportation pending for all. The U.K. and Jordan had reached an agreement on deportation a day earlier. Britain received assurances from the countries where it will be sending the detainess that they would not be subject to torture.
July 30, 2005:
The man in Italian custody wanted to scare people but had no intention to kill anyone in London on July 21, according to his lawyer. Twenty-seven-year-old Osman Hussain, also known as Hamdi Isaac, is being held on international terrorism charges in Rome. The U.K. is seeking his extradition.
July 29, 2005:
Police raid two residences in west London, arresting two men suspected in
the failed July 21 bombings and another man whose suspected role is not revealed.
Shortly thereafter, Italian Interior Minister Giuseppe Pisanu says that another
man suspected in the failed bombing was arrested in Rome.
The arrests mean all four men captured on closed-circuit television and suspected
in the bombing plot are now in custody: Muktar Said Ibrahim, Yasin Hassan Omar
, Osman Hussain and a third unnamed man. Scotland Yard calls it their "best
day yet." "
July 28, 2005:
Scotland Yard announces that police have arrested nine men at two addresses in the neighbourhood of Tooting in south London. The men are held for questioning.
July 27, 2005:
Police conduct two raids in Birmingham, England, in connection with the July 21 bombings, arresting four men, including Yasin Hassan Omar, one of the men suspected in the failed July 21 bombings. Police use a stun gun to subdue Omar. Police evacuate 100 homes in the area and bring in bomb-disposal experts to investigate a suspicious package.
July 26, 2005:
Police seize a white VW Golf in north London and search it for forensic evidence. Explosives experts also examine suspicious material found in a nearby apartment building.
July 25, 2005:
British police identify two suspects in the July 21 attempted bombings, using video images: Muktar Said Ibraihim, also known as Muktar Mohammed Said, 27, and Yasin Hassan Omar, 24.
Investigators also identify the plastic containers used in making the failed bombs. Police ask storekeepers to let them know if they remember selling any of the six-litre food containers with white lids.
July 24, 2005:
Police Chief Ian Blair apologizes for the police killing of Brazilian national Jean Charles de Menezes, but says there will not be a change to the police policy of shooting suspected suicide bombers in the head. "Somebody else could be shot," says Blair.
July 23, 2005:
British police say the man killed by undercover officers on a subway train wasn't connected to the bomb attacks. The man is identified as Jean Charles de Menezes, 27, a Brazilian citizen. Scotland Yard releases a statement: "For somebody to lose their life in such circumstances is a tragedy and one that the Metropolitan Police Service regrets."
Police arrest two more men in connection with the bombings, in the same neighbourhood where the fatal shooting of de Menezes took place.
A fifth bomb, similar to the ones used in the July 21 attacks, is found in a London park and detonated in a controlled explosion.
July 22, 2005:
Undercover police pursue a man wearing a thick coat who jumped a subway turnstile in South London. The man trips as he enters a subway train and police shoot him in the head and torso eight times, killing him. "The man was challenged and refused to obey police instructions," says police Chief Ian Blair. Police say the shooting is "directly linked" to the investigation of the subway bombings.
Police arrest a man in the same area of London, less than three hours after photos of the four suspected would-be bombers are released.
July 21, 2005:
Four small explosions hit three London subways and a bus just before 12:30 p.m., causing the evacuation of some subway stations. No one is injured in the explosions, which are later shown to be attempted bombings. The devices' detonators failed to ignite the explosives.
» A full timeline of the events surrounding the attempted bombings
July 20, 2005:
Pakistan's high commissioner to the U.K. says several people in Pakistan have been taken in for questioning.
July 19, 2005:
The Egyptian government says Magdy el-Nashar, a PhD chemistry student arrested in Cairo, had nothing to do with the London bombing or al-Qaeda.
The train car where seven people died near Edgware Road station is removed from the track.
British officials look into claims that Jermaine Lindsay used perfume bottles in his bomb to make it deadlier.
July 18, 2005:
Officials in Pakistan confirm that three of the four London bombers visited the country in 2004. Shahzad Tanweer and Mohammed Sidique Khan travelled together and spent three months in Pakistan. Hasib Hussain was in the country in July.
July 17, 2005:
Police release a surveillance camera image showing all four bombers carrying backpacks and entering the train station in Luton, north of London, on the morning of July 7.
July 16, 2005:
Police in Leeds search the home of suspected bomber Shahzad Tanweer, an Islamic DVD and book shop called the Iqra Learning Centre, and a third address for more evidence.
The wreckage of the double-decker bus, the site of the fourth bombing, is hauled out of central London for forensic testing.
Police identify their fourth suspect, a Jamaican-born Briton named Jermaine Lindsay, 19. He was previously identified in the press as Lindsey Germaine.
July 15, 2005:
Police in Cairo arrest Magdy Mahmoud Mustafa el-Nashar, an Egyptian man sought in connection with the bombings. El-Nashar, 33, is a PhD chemistry student who studied and taught in Leeds and left Britain shortly before the bombings.
It's believed el-Nashar may be connected to a cache of explosives found in Leeds. Those explosives are similar to those al-Qaeda uses in its attacks. Police Commissioner Ian Blair says he expects the investigation will show a "clear al-Qaeda link."
El-Nashar denies any involvement.
Security officials in Pakistan say they have taken four people into custody in connection with the London bombings. Intelligence sources there say the bombers travelled to Faisalabad two years ago.
July 14, 2005:
Scotland Yard releases a closed-circuit television image and a photo of bomber Hasib Hussain.
The head of the police anti-terrorism branch says police are focusing on Hussain's movements from 8:30 a.m., when he is seen in security camera footage with the other bombers, and 9:47 a.m., when the bomb aboard the bus went off, nearly an hour after the other three.
Police say they are looking for two other men, the alleged planner of the attacks, believed to have left Britain before the bombings, and an Egyptian chemistry student.
July 13, 2005:
British police confirm the names of two of the four suspects in the London bombings: Shahzad Tanweer, 22, believed to have carried out the bombing near Aldgate station; and Hasib Hussain, 19, believed responsible for the bombing of the double-decker bus near Tavistock Square.
Police turn their focus on finding those who masterminded the attacks and to the source of the explosives.
The house of the fourth suicide bomber, who has been identified in the media as Lindsey Jermaine, in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, is searched by police.
July 12, 2005:
In pre-dawn raids in Leeds, in northern England, British police arrest a man believed to be related to one of the suspects. Police enter five houses, and bring in explosives experts to blast their way into a sixth. Police remove evidence, including explosives, from homes where three of the suspected suicide bombers lived.
Police reveal that three of the suspected London bombers were British-born. They also say they may be the country's, and Western Europe's, first suicide bombers.
Police announce they have found closed-circuit television footage showing the four suspected bombers together at King's Cross station 20 minutes before the three subway explosions. They also have found personal documents bearing the names of three of the suspects at the explosion sites.
Police shut down a train station in Luton, north of London, and investigate a car parked there. A controlled explosion takes place.
Police say all four of the suspected bombers arrived in London by train, three from Leeds and one from Luton.
July 11, 2005:
Police identify Susan Levy as one of the victims of the London bombings, the first victim to be named publicly.
Metropolitan Police Commissioner Ian Blair says investigators are dealing with the "biggest crime scene in English history," and asks the public for patience.
July 10, 2005:
Police say they are keeping an open mind in their investigation into the identity of the bombers.
Police urge the public to e-mail mobile phone images, photographs or videos taken near the bomb sites on the day of the explosions.
July 9, 2005:
Police say the fact that the subway bombs were "almost simultaneous," detonated within seconds of each other, points to the use of timers. They say high explosives were used in the bombs, and they were not homemade.
The roof of the No. 30 bus, which was ripped off in the explosion, is removed from the scene for forensic examination.
July 8, 2005:
Scotland Yard Commissioner Ian Blair says the timing of the blasts mean that one person could not have carried out all the bombings.
He says there is no evidence that the attacks were by suicide bombers, but he wouldn't rule it out, either. Blair says each bomb was probably small enough to fit in a backpack.
Blair says investigators are looking through hundreds of hours of closed-circuit television footage and are collecting evidence from the bomb sites to determine the nature of the explosives and whether a timer was used.
July 7, 2005:
The Metropolitan Police investigation begins soon after the bombings. Deputy Assistant Commissioner Brian Paddick says the investigation is looking into whether the blasts were suicide bombings.
Foreign Secretary Jack Straw says the London bombings have all "the hallmarks of an al-Qaeda-related attack."
Metropolitan Police announces that many of the 1,500 officers in Scotland for the G-8 summit would be redeployed to London to aid in the investigation.
The police carry out two controlled explosions, but no more bombs are found.
Police set up emergency telephone numbers to allow people to let friends and family know they are safe, and to allow people to aid in the investigation.
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