Jerusalem----July 7......London, which had been warned of being the target of Islamic terrorist attacks, was rocked today with at least 7 powerful explosions murdering over 50 people.

Two underground trains and three double decker buses were ripped into shreds as the highly coordinated terror attack paralyzed the England capital. The Islamic terror group al Qaeda, responsible for hijacking 4 US passenger aircraft, destroying New York's World Trade Center and attacking Washington's Pentagon on September 11, 2001, has claimed responsibility.

Witnesses in London saw the top of a double-decker bus ripped off near Russell Square close to the King's Cross train terminal and the twisted wreckage of another in Tavistock Square nearby. Several English underground subway stations also were hit by the Islamic terror attack.

Other witnesses described the horror of seeing terror victims dying and with serious injuries. There were scenes of panic as power failed on crowded underground trains, and tunnels filled with smoke. "We were all trapped like sardines waiting to die," said Angelo Power. "I honestly thought I was going to die, as did everyone else."

"I got home from school this morning and the news broke at 9.30 that there had been a power surge on the tubes causing explosions. It soon transpied that there had been 6 bombs and a seventh on a bus in Tavistock Place," said Londoner Caroline Kahan. "They hit the very heart of the city at rush hour. It was very difficult to get reports as to what was going on as emergency services took over the TV networks. London now has a sense of great calm for the moment with everyone helping each other out with lifts, sharing food and telephones."

" It was a brief period of jubilations for securing the Olympic Games and then came deep sorrow for the victims and their families," said Kahan. "But we cannot and will not let these terror attacks prevent us from getting on with our lives."

British Prime Minister Tony Blair said it was a "barbaric" terrorist attack as he flew back to London from the G8 summit in Scotland, which he said would go on in defiance of the bombers.

"It is reasonably clear that there have been a series of terrorist attacks in London," Blair told reporters at the summit. He said he would return to London. A doctor at Aldgate underground station in the east of the financial center of the city said at least 90 people were wounded at that location alone. London's police chief Ian Blair said there were indications of explosives at one of the blast sites. "We are aware that one of the sites certainly does contain indications of explosives," he told Sky Television. "We are concerned that this is a co-ordinated attack."

Blair stated that the attack coincided with a meeting of Group of Eight leaders in Scotland. London has so far escaped the 2004 Madrid-style bombings blamed on al Qaeda, and the blasts on Thursday left London residents in shock. People were seen streaming out of one underground station covered with blood and soot. Passengers were evacuated from stations across the capital, many in shock and with their clothes ripped to shreds, witnesses said. "We think there are about six explosions. There are many casualties," Ian Blair said.

Israel Prime Minister Ariel Sharon telephoned British Ambassador to Israel Simon McDonald this afternoon and asked him to convey his shock, and that of the Israel government, to British Prime Minister Tony Blair following the terrorist attacks in London. Prime Minister Sharon also asked to convey the Israeli people's condolences to the British people and said that at these moments all of Israel stands in solidarity with the residents of Great Britain, feels their pain, and sends condolences to the families of those killed and best wishes for a quick recovery to those who were injured. The Prime Minister said that the entire world must unite in the war against terrorism, the purpose of which is to murder innocent people.

Israel Finance Minister and former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was on his way to address British businessmen at a London hotel when the first bomb exploded in a nearby London Underground station Thursday morning.

Israel denies reports that Netanyahu had received advance information about the attacks and was warned to stay away before the blasts happened. Israel's Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev dismissed those reports as "rubbish." Regev said he wanted to make it unequivocally clear: "All our information was afterwards."

Netanyahu's advisor Amir Gilad explained what had happened in a radio interview. "We were exactly on our way to the hotel [located over a subway station -- the first one to blow up-, Gilad said. "We were asked by the British security sources not to arrive at the hotel. Still it was not clear what was happening. We stayed in the hotel where we were guests," Gilad said. Netanyahu was due to open a large conference at the time of the explosion, Gilad added. "Now we are receiving updates all morning from British security sources that are speaking about terror attacks in the underground train and also in buses throughout the city," he said.

Israel Prime Minister Ariel Sharon had no immediate comment on the attack on London. Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom said that Israel was standing with the British at this time, and he said that Israel has long warned that terrorism is not only a problem for Israel but for the entire Western world. "Terrorism can attack every country in the world that has the ideology of freedom, of democracy," Shalom said in a radio interview.

London's security or lack of security has come under deep scrutinity in recent days with fathers rights group - Fathers4Justice - being able to penetrate Buckingham Palace and other famous English landmarks in a non-violent, public awareness campaign designed to reform family law and address gender bias discrimination in England.

London's Mayor Ken Livingstone responded to today's horrific terror bombings by stating: "I want to say one thing, specifically to the world today - this was not a terrorist attack against the mighty and the powerful, it was not aimed at presidents or prime ministers, it was aimed at ordinary, working-class Londoners, black and white, Muslim and Christian ... young and old ... that isn't an ideology, it isn't even a perverted fate, it is an indiscriminate attempt at mass murder." "They seek to divide London, they seek Londoners to turn against each other ... this city of London is the greatest in the world because everybody lives side by side in harmony. Londoners will not be divided by this cowardly attack."

Livingstone has long had a problematic history regarding terrorism. One can recall that he has called Israel Prime Minister Ariel Sharon a "war criminal" for his attempts to defend Israelis from terror. He defamed Israel by accusing it of "ethnic cleansing" and accused Israel of demonizing Muslims. He has also accused decried Israel for its refusal to permit Palestinians expelled for committing or assisting in acts of terror to return. I cannot imagine a country that should be responsible for permitting terrorists to return to their lands to cause more mayhem. He accuses Israel of trying to distort the image of Muslims around the world.
Livingstone will be no Rudy Giuliani in responding so admirably against Islamic terror.

Lebanese President Emile Lahoud strongly denounced the explosions that rocked London Thursday and expressed solidarity with the British people. "Terrorism is an evil that opposes human values and principles. Lebanon, which was the victim of violence for many years, shares the sufferings of the British people," Lahoud said in a statement. Lahoud urged the international community to double its efforts to ensure global peace based on respect of the peoples' right to secure and safe living. In the United Arab Emirates, Deputy Prime Minister Sheik Hamdan bin Zayed al-Nahyan said, "the UAE condemns strongly such ugly crimes and declares its full solidarity with the British government." Yemeni Foreign Minister Abu Baker al-Kurbi stressed that the "Yemeni government and people denounce such acts which target innocent civilians." "The Yemeni people express full solidarity with the British people and the government approves any measures to be taken by our British friends in squashing terrorism," he added.

London's streets were gridlocked and financial markets plummeted as it became increasingly apparent that the blasts were terror attacks, and not a power surge on the underground train system as had been reported. The exact cause of the incidents, which occurred one day after London was awarded the 2012 Olympics, was unknown.

Police in London confirmed that two people were killed in an explosion at London's Aldgate East underground station. There were fears of more fatalities in the damaged buses. Security experts said the apparent attacks bore all the hallmarks of the al Qaeda network.
"If what are looking at is a simultaneous bombing, and it does look like that, it would very certainly fit the classic al Qaeda methodology which centers precisely on that, multi-seated hits on transport and infrastructural targets," said Dr. Shane Brighton, intelligence expert at the Royal United Services Institute for Defense.

On the currency market, the Swiss franc hit a six-week high against sterling and rose more than 1 percent against the dollar following the explosions. "The market is showing a textbook reaction, buying safe-haven currencies like the Swiss franc and euro and away from the dollar," said Marios Maratheftis, currency strategist at Standard Chartered. Emergency services rushed to the Aldgate East underground station where police reported one incident at 8:59 a.m. local time (0759 GMT), the spokeswoman said. "There were people streaming out of Aldgate station covered in blood," said Kate Heywood, 27, on her way to work. "There are shards of glass there, it is chaos," she added. A Reuters correspondent at Oxford Circus station, at the heart of the underground system, heard an announcement over the public-address system saying: "A power outage has occurred London-wide. All train services are suspended."

A London station official said: "All the power has gone down. I don't know when it'll come back." Police sealed off large areas around other underground and mainline rail stations. Firemen donned chemical protection suits before rushing into stations. Half a dozen people with soot-blackened faces and dishevelled clothes sat on the floor at Russell Square underground station or stood in shock as police cordoned off the area and ambulances crews raced in, one witness said. The Great Eastern Hotel, which was hosting a conference on the Israeli economy, was evacuated. Israel Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu canceled plans to attend the conference.

Initially Scotland Yard declared that at least 33 are dead and scores wounded after a series of four "callous" and coordinated bombings in London's transport system, said. U.S. law enforcement sources say the British government has told them the death toll is at least 40.

A group, the "Secret Organization group of al Qaeda Organization in Europe," claimed responsibility in a Web site posting. The authenticity of the claim could not immediately be verified. CNN's Charles Hodson, reporting from the scene of one of the bombings, said London had ground to a halt as the subway and bus systems had been shut down by the attacks. Police immediately began a hunt for the bombers -- thought to have operated similar to the Madrid bomb attackers of March 2004 who left explosives on trains rather than mounted suicide attacks.

The death toll was expected to rise and London hospitals reported many people in critical and serious condition. Three of the blasts took place in the city's subway system and one more hit a double-decker bus, all at the height of rush hour. International SOS, an international medical emergency service, reported that the police had found explosive traces in at least one of four confirmed blast locations. Scotland Yard's Deputy Assistant Commissioner Brian Paddick told a news conference that there had been 33 deaths in the three train incidents plus an unknown number of fatalities in the bus attack.

There had been no warnings given and the police had received no claim of responsibility for the attacks, he said -- though he later added that police were aware of the Web site claim by a self-proclaimed al Qaeda-linked group and would be looking at it. Hospital officials have reported at least 160 wounded. London transit officials shut down the entire Underground and stopped buses in the central city district. Paddick said the first explosion had come at 8:51 a.m. BST (O351 ET) near Liverpool Street, Aldgate and Aldgate East Underground stations, where seven were confirmed dead. At 8:56 a.m. there was a second explosion on a Piccadilly Line train near Kings Cross and Russell Square tube stations, where 21 were confirmed dead. At 9:17 a.m. there was an explosion on a train traveling into Edgware Road station, affecting two other trains, with five confirmed dead. At 9:47a.m there was an explosion on a bus at Upper Woburn Place near Tavistock Square.

Fatalities have been confirmed, but the number is unknown at this stage. There were 700-900 people on each of the affected trains at the time, he added. "This is a callous attack on purely innocent members of the public deliberately designed to kill and injure members of the public," Paddick said. In a response to a question asking if security had been increased during the time of the G8 summit, he said that the security level had been "high" over recent months. "We have had all the security services actively engaged in anti terrorism activity in this period," he said. Blair, in Scotland where he is hosting the G8 summit, told reporters he would leave the summit for a "face to face" report in London and then return later in the evening. "It's reasonably clear there have been a series of terrorist attacks in London," Blair said.

"There are obviously casualties, both people that have died and people that are seriously injured. Blair said it was "also reasonably clear" that the attacks were timed to coincide with the opening of the summit. "It's particularly barbaric that this has happened on a day when people are meeting to try to help the problems of poverty in Africa and the long-term problems with the environment," he said. Just before leaving for London, Blair made a second statement, surrounded by the other leaders present at the conference. "All of our countries have suffered from the impact of terrorism," he said. "Those responsible have no respect for human life. We are united in our resolve to confront and defeat this terrorism that is not an attack on one nation, but all nations and on civilized people everywhere."

U.S. President George W. Bush was among the somber leaders who stood behind Blair as he spoke. "We will not yield to these people, will not yield to the terrorists," he said in a short statement after Blair departed. "We will find them, we will bring them to justice, and at the same time we will spread an ideology of hope and compassion that will overwhelm their ideology of hate." London Mayor Ken Livingstone said the blasts were "mass murder" carried out by terrorists bent on "indiscriminate ... slaughter." Livingstone, in Singapore where he supported London's successful bid to host the 2012 Olympics, said: "I want to say one thing: This was not a terrorist attack against the mighty or the powerful, it is not aimed at presidents or prime ministers, it was aimed at ordinary working-class Londoners."

The Web site claim of responsibility by a self-proclaimed and previously unheard of al Qaeda group in Europe said the blasts were "in retaliation for the massacres Britain is committing in Iraq and Afghanistan." "Here is Britain burning now out of fear and horror in its north, south east and west," the statement said, translated from Arabic by CNN. "We have often and repeatedly warned the British government and people."

Despite calls from officials to stay home, Londoners were on the streets except in areas where they were barred by police. Police cordoned off areas around six stations in and around the city's center and financial area and brought in sniffer dogs to check the areas. Telephone traffic -- particularly by cell phone -- was nearly impossible. London's largest cellular provider, Vodafone, said it had devoted much of its network to emergency services, causing the problems with subscribers.

One man, with blood streaming down the left side of his face from a wound on his temple, said he didn't "want to live through it again." "I was in the front carriage and people were severely injured there," he said, dispassionately, adding that his train had been in the tunnel between King's Cross and Russell Square. "I heard, but I don't know, that people were hurt worse further back. "Some people were very calm, others very panicky." "There was a very loud bang, the lights went out, the carriage filled with smoke," he said. "We were all thrown forward." Scotland Yard sent out a notice saying that "public transport in London will be affected in the next few days."

Claire Burroughs, spokeswoman for St. Mary's Hospital in central London, told CNN the hospital was on "major incident alert." Four patients were critically injured, eight were seriously injured and 14 others were being treated for minor injuries, she said. "The types of injuries we are seeing include limb damage, burns, cuts, breaks, head injuries and chest problems due to smoke inhalation," Burroughs said. London Hospital said it received 95 patients, most with minor injuries. Ten, however were listed in serious condition and seven in critical condition as well as "numerous with significant orthopedic injuries requiring immediate surgery."

Royal London Hospital, in east London near Aldgate station, said it had admitted 16 patients, 10 of them in critical condition. St. Bartholomew's hospital said it had treated and released 36 patients and had admitted two others. CNN cameraman Oran O'Reilly said he has seen seven of the city's famed double-decker buses as well as police cars and ambulances arriving with casualties. Jarvis Medhurst told CNN: "I was working at the Tavistock Hotel and a bus exploded literally 40 meters away from me. There was a massive explosion and a cloud of smoke, and then when the smoke stated to die down, you could see the wrecked bus, which was on fire.

Al-Qaida in Iraq said in a Web posting Thursday that it had killed Egypt's top envoy in Iraq, showing a video of the blindfolded diplomat identifying himself. The video did not show his death. A statement purportedly from al-Qaida said it delayed claiming responsibility for the Saturday abduction of Ihab al-Sherif "to be able to capture as many ambassadors as we can."

The claim of responsibility was posted Tuesday following kidnap attempts against top diplomats from Pakistan and Bahrain in a campaign to isolate Iraq's U.S.-backed government in the Arab and Muslim world. "We announce in the name of al-Qaida in Iraq that the verdict of God against the ambassador of the infidels, the ambassador of Egypt, has been carried out. Thank God," a written statement in the Web posting said. The video showed al-Sherif blindfolded and wearing a polo shirt. He identified himself as the head of Egypt's mission in Iraq and said he worked previously in Israel, where Egypt maintains an embassy. Al-Sherif was deputy Egyptian ambassador in Israel from 1999-2003. However, the tape did not show al-Sherif's death.

Previous al-Qaida tapes did show hooded men butchering their captives. If the claim to have assassinated al-Sherif is true, it would mark a dramatic escalation in a campaign to discourage Arab and Muslim governments from sending ambassadors and strengthening ties with Iraq, as Washington wants. Iraqi officials have called on other countries to stay the course and keep their diplomats in Baghdad. "I don't think what happened will discourage others to open embassies in Iraq considering the security guarantees by the Iraqi government," Jawad al-Maliki, chairman of the parliamentary security committee, told Al-Arabiya television. "Syria for example is willing to open embassy in Iraq and Tehran. Jordan also is serious with this matter." Laith Kubba, spokesman for Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari, referred to explosions against transport facilities in London on Thursday, adding this "confirms that terrorism in not only targeting Iraqis but everyone."

Al-Sherif, 51, was seized in a western Baghdad neighborhood as he stopped to buy a newspaper, witnesses said. He was not accompanied by any security.

"There were bodies everywhere. Heads and bits of bodies, heads and arms and legs all ripped away. "There seemed to be kids lying around as well as adults. I'm just in shock, it's something I'll never forget." O'Reilly, who was at Aldgate station, saw passengers coming out of it with signs of smoke inhalation -- black smudges around their mouths and noses. "They're pushing people away from the tube (train) station," O'Reilly said. "Police are telling us to evacuate the street." Also at Aldgate, CNN producer Roger Clark said he had seen people with blood running down their faces, with many others looking stunned. An eyewitness who was on a train told Clark the car in front of him exploded and then the the train tunnel filled with smoke.

Britain's Jewish community is on high alert after London was besieged by a string of terrorist attacks this morning. Leading community figures are thought to be formulating an emergency security strategy, but insiders are remaining tight-lipped. Mike Whine, of the Community Security Trust (CST), said, "We are still getting all the details through and an assessment of the situation is being made. "The Jewish Emergency Support Service, a bereavement organization established to cope with major incidents, is up and working, but has not had to do anything so far." He added, "We have advised the Jewish community to go about its business as normal, but to be extra vigilant. "There are extra security measures being put in place from today, but people should carry on with their lives."

Finance Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Israel's Ambassador to London, Zvi Hefetz, were due to attend a conference at a hotel near Liverpool Street Station – where one of the blasts occurred. The explosion took place near the Great Eastern Hotel, where Netanyahu was due to attend the fourth Israel Opportunity Conference. There were reports on Israel Radio that Scotland Yard had received early warnings of an imminent terrorist attack, and had shared details of these warnings with the Israeli Embassy in London. However, staff at the Israeli Embassy have flatly denied the claim.

A spokesman said, "We were informed like everybody else, after the explosions. We were holding a conference, but after the police came to inform us of what had happened we took the appropriate action and decided not to continue with the conference." The spokesman said the embassy was operating normally, and added, "We are horrified by the callous terror attacks in London this morning. Our thoughts are with the people of London and the families of those affected."

For anyone concerned about Israeli family or friends, contact the Embassy Emergency Telephone Number: +44 207 957 9581 / 9582."

The head office of Britain's Jewish student movement, UJS Hillel, is less than half a kilometer from where one of the blasts ripped through a double-decker bus. Hillel House is based in Endsleigh Street in Central London, which is just around the corner from Tavistock Square. Gerry Lucas, operations director for UJS Hillel, said, "There was an enormous explosion that we heard in this office. We are less than 400 meters from the site of the explosion. Thankfully nobody from our office was affected. "It was very loud and one of our colleagues went to investigate and saw the bus with all the distressing scenes that people in Israel are unfortunately very used to." The building, which usually has about 35 people working in it, was almost empty at the time. The Union of Jewish Students (UJS) is currently on a trip to Israel, so there was only a skeleton staff of six people around. Workers were unable to leave the scene due to the work being carried out by forensic officers. Police have also requested that UJS Hillel hand over all their CCTV footage to aid the investigation into the attacks.

Following the explosions this morning, the Chief Rabbi Sir Jonathan Sacks issued a heartfelt statement. He said, "These terrible events have brought home to us the full evil that terror represents. It is not the weapon of the weak against the strong but the rage of the angry against the defenseless and innocent. It is an evil means to an evil end. "I will be asking all our congregations to say special prayers for the victims and their families this Sabbath. We grieve for the dead, pray for the injured and share our tears with the bereaved."

Many Israel editors and reporters of Israel media believe that the British media which has been up to now sympathic to Islamic terrorists and refferred to them as "militants", "gunmen" and even "freedom fighters" would now start to use the term "terrorists" to describe anyone attempting to murder innocent civilians.

With Reuters and the Jerusalem Post

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