Three charged over London 2005 suicide bombings

LONDON: Three suspects were on Thursday charged over the July 7, 2005 suicide bombings in London which killed 52 commuters, police said, in the first indictments since the horrific attacks.

The men -- identified as Waheed Ali, Sadeer Saleem and Mohammed Shakil -- were involved in the "reconnaissance and planning" of the attacks, in which four bombers blew themselves up on underground trains and a bus, police said.

"I appreciate that bringing these charges will have an impact on many people," said Deputy Assistant Commissioner Peter Clarke, head of Scotland Yard's counter-terrorism squad.

"For some it will bring back horrible 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 has had to be kept secret."

Their arrests last month were the first major detentions since the bombings, in which near-simultaneous blasts caused devastation on the London transport system during the morning rush-hour.

The three were charged that between November 1 and June 29, 2005 "they unlawfully and maliciously conspired ... to cause explosions on the Transport for London system and/or tourist attractions in London," prosecutors added.

The four suicide bombers -- three of them Britons of Pakistani origin and one a naturalised Jamaican -- died when they set off rucksack bombs on three Underground trains and a double-decker bus.

The attack also injured more than 700 in what was the worst terrorist atrocity on British soil and the first such suicide attack in Europe.