Sunday, July 10 2005 17:26 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

London: The London terror blasts that killed at least 50 and injured hundreds was almost certainly carried out by "young, clever and British" men, a former head of the British police was today (July 10, 2005) quoted as saying.

Terrorists born or based in the UK were "almost certainly" behind the London bombs, former Police Commissioner Lord Stevens told the News of the World, saying the contention by some people that foreign attackers were to blame was "wishful thinking."

The long experience of Stevens, Britain's most senior police officer for five years until his retirement this year, leaves him convinced that Thursday's (July 7, 2005) London bombers "are British and not foreign agents," the Mail on Sunday (July 10, 2005) said.

"The terrorists at the centre of the London bombing this week will almost certainly be British born and bred, brought up here and totally aware of British life and values," said Stevenson.

"I've heard pundits suggesting it could have been Algerian terrorists, or Moroccans, or various other nationalities. But that's dangerous wishful thinking, a damaging illusion.

"It is true that such international terrorists may have provided expertise, know-how or even possibly foot soldiers for this week's onslaught. But essentially, sadly, this will almost certainly have been a homegrown operation.

"I'm afraid there's a sufficient number of people in this country willing to be Islamic terrorists that they don't have to be drafted in from abroad," he said.

Lord Stevens said it was thought 3,000 British born or based individuals have been trained in al Qaeda camps.

Authorities believed that either British individuals who had been through al Qaeda training camps, or others they had trained were most likely to have been the attackers, he said.