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Police identify two of four over bomb attempts in London

Hasan Suroor

More innocent persons could get killed in the fight against terror: police chief

LONDON: Two of the four men suspected to have been involved in last Thursday's attempted bombings on the Underground and a bus have been identified as Muktar Said Ibrahim (27) and Yasin Hassan Omar (24)— both of African origin--even as police said that they were looking for a fifth man as well.

The two suspects, identified late on Monday, were among the four whose CCTV images were released after the abortive explosions at Warren Street, Shepherd's Bush and Oval stations, and on a double-decker bus in Hackney. Police said Ibrahim, who may also be known as Muktar Mohammed Said, was linked with the bomb on the bus.

Police said they intended to persist with the controversial shoot-to-kill orders to tackle terrorism despite last Friday's tragedy when an innocent Brazilian Jean Charles de Menezes was shot dead by undercover armed officers at a south London tube station on suspicion of carrying explosives. This provoked widespread condemnation of the police tactics.

Shot eight times

An inquest found that he was shot eight times _ seven times in the head and once in the shoulder.

Earlier, police maintained that he was shot five times. Eyewitnesses, however, put the number at ``eight to nine''.

Prime Minister Tony Blair said he was ``desperately sorry'' that an innocent man had been killed but asserted that if the ``circumstances'' had turned out to be different, police would have been blamed for not taking action.

The Metropolitan Police chief Ian Blair, who is under intense pressure to review the policy after the mistaken killing, ruled out a change and warned that more innocent persons could get killed in the fight against terror.

In a TV interview, Sir Ian said the policy was ``right''.

``I think we are quite comfortable the policy is right but these are fantastically difficult times. We have to take this tragedy, deeply regret it and move on to the main investigation which is proceeding at an extraordinary pace,'' he told Sky TV.

Asked whether there could be a repeat of last week tragedy, he said: ``Well, somebody else could be shot. Everything is done to make it right, but you know this is a terrifying set of circumstances for individuals to make decisions in. I mean the important thing is there's nothing gratuitous in what's going on, there's nothing, you know, cavalier here. There's conspiracy to shoot people.''

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