LONDON, (Reuters):
Desperate Londoners hunted yesterday for relatives missing since suspected al Qaida bombers killed more than 50 people in rush-hour blasts, while rescue workers struggled to retrieve bodies trapped deep underground.
Fears of more attacks and false alarms kept commuters and financial markets jittery, while authorities worldwide went on alert following threats from Islamic militants to strike other countries which, like Britain, have troops in Iraq.
Underlining world leaders' determination not to bow to the attackers' threats, Italy said it would not accelerate its planned troop withdrawal from Iraq.
A day after four bombs tore through three underground trains and a double-decker bus, the capital slowly got back to work. Some took the day off, but others ventured back onto London's creaking transport network, some fearful, many defiant.
Police said 49 people were confirmed dead, but emergency staff were still retrieving bodies trapped far underground in one of the subway system's deepest tunnels, where the city's police chief said the scene was one of 'extraordinary horror'.
Police have yet to make any arrests for the bombings.
Distraught relatives searched for missing loved-ones around hospitals, many handing out leaflets appealing for information. "It is killing us," said Kim Beer, searching for her hairstylist's son Phil, 22, who might have been on a bombed train. "He always kisses me and cuddles me and tells me he loves me every time he goes out of the door which is what he did yesterday and I haven't seen or heard from him since."
life will go on
Queen Elizabeth, visiting the wounded in hospital, reflected the mood of many when she said Britain would not be cowed. "Those who perpetrate these brutal acts against innocent people ... will not change our way of life," she said.
Psychologists said decades of bombings by Irish republicans could help Londoners deal with the trauma. Others highlighted the capital's resilience during World War II.
"If London can survive the Blitz, it can survive four miserable events like this," said police chief Ian Blair.
Muslims across Britain mourned the dead and condemned the bombers at Friday prayers but expressed fears of a backlash.
The attacks which ministers said bore the hallmarks of the Islamic militant al Qaida network were London's deadliest in peacetime and disrupted a summit of the leaders of the Group of Eight (G8) industrialised countries in Scotland.
Prime Minister Tony Blair briefly left the summit to attend a crisis meeting in London on Thursday. But he vowed not to let the attacks derail the meeting and announced yesterday that world leaders had agreed to more than double aid for Africa.
"We offer today this contrast with the politics of terror," he said. "It is hoped that is the alternative to this hatred."
European Union Counter-Terrorism Co-ordinator Gijs de Vries told reporters in Brussels the threat to Europe "remains serious and it remains only too real" and was not restricted only to countries that have troops in Iraq.
London mayor Ken Livingstone said the city would soon bounce back, noting it had been a week of "triumph and tragedy" for the capital, awarded the 2012 Olympics the day before the bombings. He said he would be back on the underground on Monday.
