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Terrifying manhunt hits home
29/07/2005 22:21 - (SA)
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| Heavily armed police officers take up position in the Notting Hill district of London on Friday, near where police arrested three men after raiding two residences in the area. (Robert Jackson, AP) |
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London - Terrified locals on a drab west London housing estate watched in disbelief as the massive hunt for the men behind a wave of bomb attacks in the capital arrived on their doorstep on Friday in a barrage of gunfire and explosions.
Witnesses described a large bang shattering the peace of the usually quiet White City neighbourhood at around 11:30, followed by gunfire and rounds of tear gas as armed police surrounded a concrete tower block.
As a helicopter buzzed overhead, police were heard shouting to a suspect inside the estate - using the name Mohammed, according to residents - to remove his clothes and come out.
"I was on the telephone to my friend and I heard a great big boom," said Debbie Rumsey, a 39-year-old student who lives on the Peabody estate, which she described as multicultural and family-orientated.
"The explosion rocked the whole estate - I just hope that everyone is all right," she said.
Stuck
Hundreds of other residents were stuck either inside or outside their homes as police tape criss-crossed roads and paths around the neighbourhood.
The area backs onto a large park where police found a suspected bomb last weekend, one they linked to attempted attacks on three Underground trains and a bus on July 21.
A woman living close to the targeted flat said she heard police trying to coax a man out, ordering him to leave clad only in his underwear with his arms in the air.
"He was saying: 'How do I know you're not going to shoot me? I'm scared,'" said the woman, who asked not to be named.
After a while, the shouted conversation ended and the woman heard four loud bangs, after which she was allowed out of her flat.
One 14-year-old boy living in a nearby block of flats said he saw police firing rounds of tear gas at K Block as they tried to coax a suspect out.
"There were three police officers, one went down on one knee and fired tear gas at the building," said the boy, who gave his name as Roydie.
His 40-year-old mother, who refused to give her name, confirmed that she heard rounds of tear gas being fired, while police barked out: "You know the procedure," to a man they referred to as Mohammed.
Shocked
Many locals were shocked to learn that a suspected terrorist had been living among them, though one woman said she knew the man who had been arrested, describing him as a chubby bus driver.
"It is terrible that it has happened here," said another resident, Paul Sanders, 31, who only just bought a flat in the area last week.
He, however, like many of the other locals, appeared to be more concerned about the inconvenience of a police operation taking place on his street as the action looked set to continue for some time.
"I feel bad, not because of what has happened but because I can't get home," he said.
Arrested
Police said on Friday they believe they have arrested the four suspected bombers whose images were released following the failed July 21 attacks on London's transport system.
"We have four people in custody we believe are the images we released," said a police official, who asked not to be named.
Police carried out raids in west London on Friday, arresting three suspects, two of whom are suspected of being the bombers. Another suspect was arrested in Birmingham on Wednesday. In Rome, Italian police arrested another suspected bomber on Friday.
One of two men arrested in west London identified himself as Muktar Said Ibrahim, 27, who allegedly tried to blow himself up on a No. 26 bus in Hackney, east London, said Peter Clarke, head of the Metropolitan Police's anti-terrorist branch.
The second man, according to Clarke, has "said that his name is Ramzi Mohammed".
- AFP
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