Reply #2: More from AP on this...

[flpoljunkie]

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/international/AP-Britain-Explosions-Al-Qaida.html?ei=5094&en=75b1fd7c9e38b13c&hp=&ex=1120795200&partner=homepage&pagewanted=print

July 7, 2005


Responsibility Claim Is Posted on Militant Site

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Filed at 9:05 a.m. ET

CAIRO, Egypt (AP) -- A group calling itself ''The Secret Organization of al-Qaida in Europe'' posted a claim of responsibility for Thursday's blasts in London, saying they were in retaliation for Britain's involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan.

<>''Rejoice, Islamic nation. Rejoice, Arab world. The time has come for vengeance against the Zionist crusader government of Britain in response to the massacres Britain committed in Iraq and Afghanistan,'' said the statement, translated by The Associated Press in Cairo. The AP was unable to access the Web site where it was posted, which was closed quickly after the reports.

The group al-Qaida in Europe claimed responsibility for the last major terror attack in Europe: a string of bombs that hit commuter trains in Madrid, Spain in March 2004, killing 191 people. Two days after that attack, a video was found in a trash can outside a Madrid mosque with a statement purported to be from the group's spokesman, called by the nickname ''Abu Dujan al Afghani.''

<>''We continue to warn the governments of Denmark and Italy and all crusader governments that they will receive the same punishment if they do not withdraw their troops from Iraq and Afghanistan,'' the statement went on.

It was signed ''The Secret Organization of al-Qaida in Europe.''