Wednesday, July 13 2005 11:06 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

London: In a sensational breakthrough into the investigation in the London bombings, the police said at least three of the bombers are believed to be British males of Pakistani origin who lived in West Yorkshire in Leeds.

Police said they believe four men including the three Pakistani origin persons who arrived at King's Cross last Thursday (July 07, 2005) morning on a train from Leeds were behind the terrorist bomb attack that killed at least 52 people and injured 700 on three tube trains and one bus.

Detectives are still unsure about the identity of the fourth bomber.

CCTV footage at King's Cross station showed the four suspected bombers together at 8.30am, Deputy assistant commissioner Peter Clarke, the head of the Metropolitan police's anti-terrorism branch, told a press conference here yesterday (July 12, 2005) night.

The three tube blasts - at Aldgate, King's Cross and Edgware Road - came within a minute of each other at 8.51 am. The bus bomb detonated 57 minutes later as the No 30 passed through Tavistock Square in Bloomsbury, central London.

Bus bomber dead?

The bus bomber is believed to be dead, and police said there was "strong forensic and other evidence" a second bomber died at Aldgate. Investigators are now trying to establish if the other two are alive or died in the explosions.

A relative of one of the suspects was arrested in West Yorkshire yesterday and was being brought to London to be quizzed by the anti-terrorist branch.

Police sources said they were working under the assumption that the attacks were carried out by suicide bombers.

Suggestions that the bus was targeted by a suicide bomber were initially denied by police, but witnesses claimed an "agitated" passenger was seen rummaging in his bag.

Clarke said police were now trying to establish the movements of the four men in the week before the bomb attacks.

"We are trying to establish their movements in the run-up to last week's attack and specifically to establish whether they all died in the explosions," he said.

Six search warrants were served yesterday under the Terrorism Act on houses in and around Leeds, during the operation.

"These included the home addresses of three of the four men," he said. "A detailed forensic examination will now follow and this is likely to take time to complete."

The investigation has already established that personal documents bearing the names of three of the four men were found close to three of the explosions.

Property in the name of the suspected bus bomber - reported missing by his family on the morning of July 7 - was found on the No.30.

Property of a second man was found at Aldgate, and property belonging to a third was found both at Aldgate and at Edgware Road.

Explosives in a car

In another development, police have found explosives inside a car left outside Luton railway station in Bedfordshire.

A controlled explosive was carried out on the vehicle, which was expected to be removed for forensic examination. Officers could not say how long the car had been parked there. Metropolitan Police bomb squad officers have since removed the explosives.

A spokesman for Bedfordshire Police said, "they think they have found some explosives and they have taken them out of the car and that is what they are going to explode safely."

Armed officers and army bomb disposal experts took part in the pre-dawn raids on the properties in the Leeds area. Materials seized during the operation have been taken away for examination.

At least one controlled explosion was carried out ahead of a raid on one of the properties.

Around 500 to 600 people were evacuated from the area close to the address in the Burley district of Leeds at around 11.30 am. Army officers used a controlled explosion to gain access to the property at 1.20 pm.

A neighbour said a 22-year-old man had lived at the house on Hyde Park Road with his family but had gone missing.

The operation in Leeds was being led by the Metropolitan police anti-terrorist officers with the support of West Yorkshire police and the army bomb disposal unit. Armed officers had been used as a precaution in case anyone was inside the property. A house in Lees Holm, Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, was one of those surrounded by police.

Neighbours on the council estate said an Asian couple lived there with a young baby daughter. It is believed that the baby was aged about eight or nine months.

A neighbour said the couple had not been there for more than a year. She said the man was aged 29 while his wife was several years younger. The couple originally came from Pakistan but had moved from Leeds.

Earlier police cordoned off a white semi-detached house in Colwyn Road, a quiet residential street in the Beeston area of the city, and a terrace house I Strateford Street, around two minutes' walk from Colwyn Road. Material seized during the raids have been taken away for examination.

The CCTV images showed the four men suspected had boarded a Thameslink train at Luton, carrying rucksacks. Sir Iqbal Sacranie of the Muslim Council of Britain said they have received the latest news from the police with "anguish, shock and horror."

He said, "it appears our youth have been involved in last week's horrific bombings against innocent people.

"While the police investigation continues we reiterate our absolute commitment and resolve to helping the police bring to justice all involved in this crime of mass murder.

Nothing in Islam can ever justify the evil actions of the bombers."