today 07.07.05

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LONDON MAYOR KEN LIVINGSTONE
`.....This was not a terrorist attack against the mighty and the powerful.
It was not aimed at presidents or prime ministers. It was aimed at ordinary working-class Londoners, black and white, Muslim and Christian, Hindu and Jew, young and old.
Indiscriminate slaughter irrespective of any consideration for age, class, religion, whatever.
That isn't an ideology. It isn't even a perverted faith. It is just an indiscriminate attempt at mass murder. `

PRIME MINISTER TONY BLAIR
`It is important... that those engaged in terrorism realise that our determination to defend our values and our way of life is greater than their determination to cause death and destruction to innocent people in a desire impose extremism on the world.
Whatever they do it is our determination that they will never succeed in destroying what we hold dear in this country and in other civilised nations throughout the world. `

CHIEF RABBI JONATHAN SACKS
`These terrible events have brought home to us the full evil that terror represents.
It is not the weapon of the weak against the strong but the rage of the angry against the defenceless and innocent. It is an evil means to an evil end. `

SIR IQBAL SACRANIE, SECRETARY GENERAL OF THE MUSLIM COUNCIL OF GREAT BRITAIN
`What we need to be aware is the terrorists, these evil people who have carried out this series of explosions in London, want to demoralise us as a nation and divide us as a people.
All of us must unite in helping the police to hunt these murderers down.
I think, yesterday, we celebrated as Londoners the euphoria that our great city had secured the Olympic Games.
Today, we watch aghast as we witness a series of brutal attacks upon our capital city. I think we were together in our celebrations and we must remain together in our time of crisis. `


RESPECT MP GEORGE GALLOWAY
`We argued... that the attacks on Afghanistan and Iraq would increase the threat of terrorist attack in Britain. Tragically Londoners have now paid the price of the Government ignoring such warnings. `

RAMESH KALLIDAI, SECRETARY GENERAL OF THE HINDU FORUM OF GREAT BRITAIN
`Britain is a good example of a multi-cultural society where all faith communities have been living together peacefully. It is now more important than ever to ensure that we do not succumb to terrorism by allowing ourselves to be divided. `

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso

`It's absurd, those criminal attacks against innocent people that have nothing to do with the problems that are raised by the terrorists.
This criminal act [is] not only against Britain, against the British people but against all civilised people in the world that do not tolerate these kind of crimes.
All of us from President Chirac to the president of China expressed sympathy to Tony Blair and Britain. There is a strong consensus on the need to defend our values. `

News website reader Scott Wenbourne was on the train travelling in to Aldgate station when there was an explosion in the carriage in front of him.

`It was about 8.50am when it happened. I was one carriage down from where it happened and had my back to the carriage door.
All of a sudden there was a loud bang and a flash of bright light. It threw me to the floor in the middle of the train.
At first some people thought it wasn't serious, perhaps just a minor derailment, although some people were screaming.
But straight away, as soon I hit the floor my first thought was "it's a bomb", although I can't be sure.
It all happened in slow motion, I thought the windows would blow through.
Carriage 'ripped apart'
One of the train staff came along and said that we had hit something but that there was no need to panic.
We got off at the back end of the train and they walked us towards Aldgate station.
As we walked up past the carriage we saw debris and torn metal. I noticed the carriage was completely ripped apart on one side.
I saw three bodies on the track. I couldn't look, it was so horrific. I think one was moving but I'm not too sure.
There were also, I think, some bodies in the carriage, some were moving but I couldn't really look. No-one was attending to them.
We walked to the platform, which took about half an hour as there were so many of us, after all it was rush hour.
There were police at the platform and some of the injured were tended to.
Many people had black faces, bleeding from parts all over their bodies. Nobody seemed to have anything too horrific, they all seemed to be conscious.
As soon as I got out the station I phoned my mum to tell her I was OK. Someone from work called as well. I just stood around for a bit trying to take in what happened.
When I got to work one girl said she was just getting off the train at Liverpool Street when she felt the whole building rock.
We've been told at work to stay in the building, pull the blinds down and keep away from the windows......`

Comments - London, Thursday 7th July 2005.....

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