Detecting the discontents

It is the worst of all possible outcomes. Last week8217;s terrorist attacks on London were the work of suicide bombers 8212; the first suc...

It is the worst of all possible outcomes. Last week8217;s terrorist attacks on London were the work of suicide bombers 8212; the first such attacks on British soil. Worse still, it looks as though they were committed by British Muslims. Police confirmed that at least one of the bombers in last week8217;s attack died at the scene 8212; and possibly all four suspects. Property belonging to the three other suspects had been found at the scenes of the three other explosions. The head of Scotland Yard8217;s anti-terrorist branch explained that quite early in the investigation police were concerned by the movement and activities of four men, three of whom came from the West Yorkshire area. They believe the three travelled by train from Leeds to London on the day of the bombing and were joined by a fourth man at Luton. CCTV cameras showed all four were at King8217;s Cross station at 8.30 am last Thursday shortly before the four explosions took place.

Some people may feel gratified that all four suspects are dead. But others will rightly be dismayed at the prospect of the attack, unlike Madrid8217;s last year, being committed by home-grown bombers. If confirmed, as looks likely, it cannot be dismissed as the work of foreign extremists brought up in oppressive states suffering from severe deprivation. It will have been the work of people brought up in our multi-racial society of which policy-makers were rightly proud. This is not just a challenge for government but for civic society too.

Lord Stevens, the former Metropolitan Police commissioner, warned in a newspaper article last Sunday that the London bombers were unlikely to fit the caricature of al-Qaida fanatics from some backward village in Algeria or Afghanistan8230; Understandably, the south Leeds community from which three of the men came was shocked by the news. The family of one of the men had actually called the police to report him missing on the day the bombing took place.

Early on Tuesday the Muslim Council of Britain announced plans to hold protest marches against the bombing in half a dozen large towns with large Muslim communities including London, Manchester, Birmingham, Bradford and Leeds. There is even more reason for them to go ahead now. Let them be joined by other faith groups who have expressed support since Thursday.

Excerpted from an editorial in 8216;The Guardian8217; on July 13