A new type of suicide bomber
"Sir" Ian Blair"The key component was that at that time—and for the next 24 hours—I and everybody who advised me believed the person who was shot was a suicide bomber."
This is more remarkable news. Menezes was clearly a new type of suicide bomber, one who looked nothing like any of the suspects & who was not carrying a bomb. This latter fact was aware to me, sitting at my desk, at some during the Friday so Blair must have known this before 24 hours was up. It also seems strange the surveillance team, who did not think Menezes a threat, could not get word to Blair.
The policemen say they did NOT think the 27-year-old electrician was a suicide bomber and they thought he was simply going to be arrested at gunpoint.
Update: The last piece of suspicion over de Menezes might have gone.
It was initially suggested that the flat was connected to the man known as Hussein Osman, who was arrested in Italy. On the Saturday after the shooting, officers raided the flat in a high-profile operation watched by the world's media. As a result, a man, identified only as 'C', was arrested 'on suspicion of the commission, instigation or preparation of acts of terrorism'. But he was released on 30 July with no charge, raising the possibility that the flats had no connection with the bombings.
Update II: The S.Telegraph says something particularly stupid: "Had the man the police followed into Stockell station actually been a suicide bomber, the alternative to killing him would have been letting him detonate a bomb that could have killed scores of people. In that situation, there can be no question of which is the better alternative". Even on this point (which is separate to the question of the indentification of Menezes as a suicide bomber being merely 'you should take a look') it is obvious that by this point (Menezes was under restraint) if he was going to let off a bomb (which must have been particularly slimline) he would have done it already. So in this situation the question to ask would be 'Had the man the police followed into Stockwell station actually been a suicide bomber, why did the police let him go on a crowded bus, walk calmly through a crowded concourse, get on a crowded tube train, all under surveillance?"
posted by Matthew @ 8/21/2005 08:01:00 AM
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