Speculation grows that abandoned bomb meant for station

The discovery of bomb material similar to that used in four failed attacks on Little Wormwood Scrubs has led to speculation about the possibility of a fifth target.

The spotlight is falling on East Acton tube which is directly across the Scrubs from where the package was discovered. The dramatic arrests made last week at Dalgarno Gardens were a short walk from Little Wormwood Scrubs. A would-be bomber would have been able to walk most of the way from Dalgarno Gardens to East Acton station without needing to use any main roads.

There were other stations nearby but on the Hammersmith and City line which had already been targeted by the attack on Shepherd's Bush. East Acton, on the Central line, would have maximised the amount of chaos achieved by the attack.

There is some confusion as to why the attackers would have been chosen given the significant Muslim community in the area. As the local station of radical clerics Abu Hamza and Abu Qatada, who still have family ties in the area, there seems little logic behind the choice but several of the other locations chosen also had large Muslim communities, so little thought seems to have been given to the religion of the likely victims. One local Muslim has contacted us to say that he believes that if East Acton was the intended target it may be due to the internal politics within the fundamentalist movement.

Another local connection to the attacks is that Ramzi Mohammed, the man who attempted to blow up Oval station, has been reported to have worked as a driver on the number 7 bus route which travels between East Acton and Russell Square. His brother, Wahdi, was arrested in Notting Hill at the same time as the raid on Dalgarno Gardens. There have been unconfirmed reports that the police believe he may have been the fifth bomber who decided not to complete his mission.

August 1, 2005 1:51 PM