LONDON // Witnesses saw suicide bombers who attacked London's transport system on July 7, 2005 smiling and laughing as they travelled to the city to commit mass murder, a lawyer told a long-awaited investigation today.
Hugo Keith told a coroner's inquest into the deaths of 52 commuters that travellers described the four men as "smiling and laughing and generally relaxed," as they took a train with knapsacks packed with explosives.
The inquest at London's Royal Courts of Justice opened today with a minute's silence in memory of the victims of one of Britain's deadliest terrorist attacks. Mr Keith, the chief counsel to the inquest, read out the names of all those who died when the four British Muslim bombers detonated devices aboard three subway trains and a double-decker bus. He said the bombs struck down British nationals as well as foreigners "with no regard to whether the victim was Christian, Muslim, a follower of any of our other great faiths, an adherent to none."
"They were acts of merciless savagery which could only outline the sheer inhumanity of the perpetrators," Mr Keith added. The date of the attacks - "7/7" - has been seared into Britons' memories. But Mr Keith said the bombings may have been planned for the day before. He said a mobile phone recovered from one bomb site showed that ringleader Mohammed Siddique Khan sent a text message to another attacker at 4.35am on July 6, saying "Having major problem. Cannot make time. Will ring you when I get it sorted. Wait at home."
Mr Keith said Khan visited a hospital with his wife on July 5 because of complications with her pregnancy. She had a miscarriage on the day of the attacks. It was one of a string of startling new details revealed in his opening statement. He said a piece of paper recovered from the pocket of bomber Jermaine Linsday mentioned journey times to Paddington, Westminster and Bond Street stations - some of the best known stops on the Underground system.
Paddington is a major railway station, Bond Street the city's ritziest shopping district and Westminster the stop for the Houses of Parliament. It was not immediately clear whether mention of those stops meant they were targets of the attackers. Three of the bombs exploded elsewhere on the underground system. The closure of one line meant the fourth bomber carried his device onto a bus, where it killed 13 people.
Mr Keith said the bombers apparently prepared to fight police if intercepted, carrying improvised bombs, which could be thrown, and a semiautomatic handgun. He also said a man resembling Lindsay approached an employee at King's Cross station and said he wanted to speak to the duty manager about something "very important". He disappeared before anyone could talk to him. The hearings are expected to last five months and will look at whether the emergency services' response was adequate and whether the intelligence services and police could have prevented the attacks.
The inquest was delayed pending the prosecution of three people accused of helping the attackers choose their targets. They were found innocent of the charge last year, clearing the way for these proceedings to begin. British inquests are fact-finding inquiries that take place when a person dies violently or under unusual circumstances. They can't establish civil or criminal liability, but in this case the investigation will give families of victims the chance to ask officials if more could have been done to prevent the attacks.
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The Perfect Couple
Starring: Nicole Kidman, Liev Schreiber, Jack Reynor
Creator: Jenna Lamia
Rating: 3/5
Brief scores:
Toss: Rajputs, elected to field first
Sindhis 94-6 (10 ov)
Watson 42; Munaf 3-20
Rajputs 96-0 (4 ov)
Shahzad 74 not out
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
Director: Laxman Utekar
Cast: Vicky Kaushal, Akshaye Khanna, Diana Penty, Vineet Kumar Singh, Rashmika Mandanna
Rating: 1/5
West Asia rugby, season 2017/18 - Roll of Honour
Western Clubs Champions League - Winners: Abu Dhabi Harlequins; Runners up: Bahrain
Dubai Rugby Sevens - Winners: Dubai Exiles; Runners up: Jebel Ali Dragons
West Asia Premiership - Winners: Jebel Ali Dragons; Runners up: Abu Dhabi Harlequins
UAE Premiership Cup - Winners: Abu Dhabi Harlequins; Runners up: Dubai Exiles
UAE Premiership - Winners: Dubai Exiles; Runners up: Abu Dhabi Harlequins
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
Our legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
