Three men become first to be charged over July 7 attacks

Three men became the first suspects yesterday to be charged in connection with the 7 July 2005 suicide bombings, which killed 52 Tube and bus passengers, as police predicted their investigation would lead to further arrests.

Mohammed Shakil, Sadeer Saleem and Waheed Ali are accused of plotting with the four men who brought carnage to central London with devastating attacks on the capital's transport network. Scotland Yard, which has followed 19,000 leads in the 21 months since the blasts, said its investigation would produce more results.

Mr Shakil, 30, and Mr Ali, 23, were detained a fortnight ago before boarding a flight from Manchester to Pakistan. Mr Saleem, 26, was arrested in Leeds. All three are from the Beeston district of Leeds. They were charged with conspiracy to cause explosions on transport or at tourist attrac-tions. They were questioned at the high security Paddington Green police station before the decision was taken to prosecute.

Sue Hemming, head of the Crown Prosecution Service's counter- terrorism division, said: "The allegation is that they were involved in reconnaissance and planning for a plot with those ultimately responsible for the bombings on 7 July before the plan was finalised."

The bombers, Mohammad Sidique Khan, 30, Shahzad Tanweer, 22, Germaine Lindsay, 19, and Hasib Hussain, 18, were killed when they triggered explosions on three Tube trains and a bus. The blasts, which also injured 966 commuters, sparked a massive manhunt for supporters and sympa-thisers who could have helped co-ordinate the plot.

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Peter Clarke, head of the Metropolitan Police counter-terrorism command, said: "I appreciate that bringing these charges will have an impact on many people. For some it will bring back awful memories of that terrible day. For others there may be some relief that after such a length of time there is some visible progress in an investigation that, I hope for obvious reasons, has had to be conducted in secret."

He said the investigation was a "complicated jigsaw with thousands of pieces". He said: "We now have enough of the pieces in the right place for us to be able to see the picture, but it is far from complete." Mr Clarke told a press conference: "I only wish that I could share with you the extent of what we have discovered, but I cannot. That must wait for the trial of those who have been charged or any others who may be charged in the future."

He appealed for more people, especially from West Yorkshire, to come forward with information. "I firmly believe that there are other people who have knowledge of what lay behind the attack in July 2005 - knowledge that they have not shared with us," he said. "In fact I don't only believe it, I know it for a fact."

Mr Clarke said the police still needed information about the four suicide bombers and about the three who have been charged. "We need to know about their movements, meetings and travel," he said. "Who did they meet? Where did they go? But as well as this who else knew about what was happening? We will find out, it is only a matter of time."

The three men are due to appear at City of Westminster magistrates' court in London tomorrow.

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