Blasts send shock waves round world
MESSAGES OF SYMPATHY POUR INTO BRITAINJuly 08, 2005
London: The world recoiled in shock yesterday after bombs tore through London's transport system, killing 50 people in a co-ordinated rush-hour attack.
Countries in Europe and the United States stepped up security after the blasts and vowed to hunt down the militants who caused carnage in Britain, the closest US ally, host to the G8 rich nations' meeting and the new EU president.
Messages of sympathy and condolences poured in from European and Middle Eastern nations, particularly those whose civilian populations had been targeted by militants, branding the attacks barbaric, repulsive and heinous.
"We Spaniards know well the suffering that the British people are going through today," Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said, referring to train bombs in Madrid which killed 191 people last year. "We unite with their grief."
London Mayor Ken Livingstone called the attacks "mass murder", British Prime Minister Tony Blair said they were "barbaric", and Queen Elizabeth referred to "the dreadful events in London".
US President George W Bush stood side by side with Blair at the G8 summit meeting in Gleneagles, Scotland, to say world leaders reacted resolutely.
"Their resolve is as strong as my resolve," Bush said. "We will find them (the perpetrators). We will bring them to justice. And at the same time we will spread an ideology of hope and compassion that will overwhelm their ideology of hate."
President Thabo Mbeki, the South African government and opposition parties united to condemn the attacks.
"As South Africa, we join the rest of the international community in condemning any acts of terrorism," Mbeki's spokesman, Bheki Khumalo, said from Gleneagles, where Mbeki is attending the G8 summit.
"We believe there is no reason for anyone to resort to these kinds of things and kill innocent people. The sanctity of human life is something all of us must hold very dearly."
Iran and Syria, both on Washington's list of states sponsoring terrorism, joined an unbroken chorus of condemnation, as did the Palestinian Authority, the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas and Lebanon's Shi'ite Muslim Hizbollah guerrillas.
European transport systems tightened security.
"There is (heightened alert) in all of Europe," Italian Interior Minister Guiseppe Pisanu said. "As the violence breaks out again one must keep one's nerves steady and face it, with the force of law and with the rules of democracy."
Bush directed US security authorities to be extra vigilant. "I have been in contact with the Homeland Security folks," he said.
There was condemnation and solidarity for the victims, the British government and its citizens, from statesmen, religious leaders and ordinary people from around the globe.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said the bombings were "inhuman crimes", Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern called them "a black mark on society" and Pope Benedict deplored "these barbaric acts against humanity".
"Lebanon, which has been the victim of violence for years, shares with the British their pain," said Lebanese President Emile Lahoud. - Reuters
