A British court has handed guilty verdicts for
four men in plotting to bomb London's transport system in July 2005. Jury
deliberations continue for two others implicated in the plot. VOA's Sonja Pace
reports from London the verdicts come amid stinging criticism of Britain's
anti-terror efforts.
Monday's guilty verdicts stem from charges against six men accused of
attempting to set off homemade bombs on several subway trains and a bus in
London on July 21, 2005. The devices failed to explode and no one was injured in
the attempted attacks.
The failed bombings came just two weeks after coordinated suicide attacks on
London's transport system killed 52 commuters.
British police are now investigating recent bomb attempts. Explosive devices
were defused in two abandoned cars found in central London on June 29. A day
later two men rammed their
four-wheel drive vehicle into the main airport terminal in Glasgow, Scotland,
causing a fire.
Eight suspects are in custody, most of them worked for Britain's national
health service and come from countries in the Middle East or from India.
But, at the same time British anti-terror efforts have come under criticism
from the international police agency, Interpol. Interpol chief, Ronald Noble,
says Britain is out of step with the international norm.
"The U.K.'s anti-terrorist effort is in the wrong century, is not aware of
what we are able to do today, globally and they should do more," he said. We
[Interpol] do not have one metropolitan police officer from their [British]
anti-terrorism unit assigned o Interpol - not one."
Speaking on British television, Noble said Britain, like most countries, has
not taken full advantage of an Interpol database to track seven million lost or
stolen passports, which he says could help track suspected terrorists.
Noble also criticized Britain for not sharing with Interpol information on
the three recent car bombs in London and Glasgow.
British officials say they are working closely with Interpol and member
states and they cite international cooperation into the car-bomb investigation.
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