Friday July 8, 05:17 PM
AFP
GLENEAGLES, Scotland (AFP) - Terrorists alone were responsible for the London bombings, British Prime Minister Tony Blair said at the end of the G8 summit, implicitly denying any slip-up by the security services.
In response to a question on how the multiple blasts Thursday could have been allowed to happen, Blair indicated that he did not believe that there had been a failure on the part of the police or intelliegence services.
"My opinion is that those people who kill the innocent and cause such bloodshed, that they are responsible and they are solely responsible," he said in a response that prompted a stoney silence in the press conference.
More than 50 people were killed when bombs went off during morning rush hour on three London subway trains and a double decker bus. Foreign Secretary Jack Straw has linked the attacks to Al-Qaeda cells.
Blair thanked his G8 partners, and the African, Asia and Latin American leaders invited to the summit, for the support they had shown to Britain following the nation's deadliest bombings since World War II.
They had showed "commitment to the British people at what has obviously been a difficult time," he said before returning to London for a late-day meeting of his crisis management team, known as Cobra.
"They showed great leadership and a very great sense of friendship towards my country," he added, "and I was honoured to receive that."