Fears rise of fresh attacks by rearmed london bomb fugitives

LONDON, Wednesday (AFP) - Fears rose Wednesday that four fugitives suspected of trying to bomb London may have stocked up on explosives and plan to strike again, while Britain mulled stronger police powers to fight future terrorism.

Almost a week after the would-be bombers carried out their failed attack on three subway trains and a bus, in a potential re-run of the July 7 suicide strikes that left 56 people dead, they remain at large despite an unprecedented manhunt.

Police have named two of the suspects - 27-year-old Muktar Said Ibrahim, also known as Muktar Mohammed Said, from Eritrea and 24-year-old Yasin Hassan Omar of Somalia - and released photographs of all four.

They have also arrested five other people in connection with Thursday's bungled operation and seized material from a north London flat used by at least two of the fugitives in a fast moving investigation.

The Times, however, said police at Scotland Yard believed the suspects had already returned to the address in Southgate to rearm.

"Immediately after the failed bombings, up to three of the men... were seen by a neighbour at the council flat which the terrorists were using as a bomb factory," it said in a front page story.

A police spokeswoman refused to comment on the report, which was echoed in other newspapers. Neighbour Tanya Wright, who lives on the floor below the ninth floor flat, said she saw three men standing just outside the address last Friday.

"They looked very suspicious, very worried. They panicked and jumped back into the flat and slammed the front door," Wright told the BBC.

Adding to the sense of urgency of the police hunt, London's Metropolitan police commissioner Sir Ian Blair told Channel Four News on Tuesday night, "They are capable of killing again. We must find them."

Newspapers speculated that the men were being sheltered by supporters in the British capital, while concerns grew of a fifth accomplice after a device similar to the four failed bombs was found Saturday in a west London park.

Passport checks have been reinstated at ports for everyone leaving the country in a bid to catch any suspect trying to flee, The Times said. The controls were imposed after the deadly wave of bombings three weeks ago but had been lifted sgain on July 17, the newspaper said.

They were brought back four days later, it reported, noting that questions were being asked about why the order was relaxed amid police warnings of another atrocity.

Prime Minister Tony Blair, meanwhile, appeared keen to support longer detention periods for terrorist suspects as part of a raft of proposed new anti-terror laws, despite doubts expressed by leader of the main opposition Conservative Party Michael Howard.

The comments came after the premier held a summit on the issue with Howard and his Liberal Democrat counterpart Charles Kennedy. They also followed calls from senior policemen to increase the length of time terror suspects can be held, from 14 days to as much as three months.

"I think it's perfectly reasonable for us in circumstances of great difficulty to have a greater detention in order that there can be the interrogation of people who are suspected of doing this," Blair said.

"People rightly expect us to take the right measures to increase their security," he told reporters.