Did Charles Clarke release the 7 July London bombers?

Britain’s Home Secretary Charles Clarke and the French Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy met at a European Union terrorism conference in July 2005. There was a press conference.

At the 13 July 2005 press conference, Sarkozy said that he had been told that some of the 7 July London bomb suspects had been arrested in 2004 and then released.

Some reports claimed that (1) Sarkozy's information had come from Clarke (2) Clarke had wanted the suspects released.

The BBC web site quoted Sarkozy as saying “It seems that part of this team had been subject to partial arrest.”

Clarke denied that any such conversation had taken place.

In July 2005, Charles Clarke said the attacks came “out of the blue” and that the four bombers—Mohammad Sidique Khan, Shehzad Tanweer, Germaine Lindsay and Hasib Hussain—were “clean skins” with no known links to terrorism.

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The following is from the International Herald Tribune, 17 July, 2005

After bombing, a deepening French-British rift - Europe ...

Christophe Chaboud, France's new antiterrorism coordinator... leaked.

In an interview with the French newspaper Le Monde that appeared on newsstands on 11 July ... Chaboud announced that he knew ''the nature of the explosives'' used in the London bombings.

It ''appears to be military, which is very worrisome,'' he said, adding: ''We're more used to cells making homemade explosives from chemical substances.''

Still, these are not normal times. After an emergency EU summit meeting of justice and interior ministers in Brussels on July 13, the French interior minister, Nicolas Sarkozy, suggested that part of the cell responsible for the London terror attacks had been arrested before.

The remarks prompted an immediate response from the British home secretary, Charles Clarke, who had called the meeting. ''I've heard Sarkozy's remarks to the press and there is absolutely no foundation in them,'' Clarke said in a news conference.

Asked whether he had confronted Sarkozy directly about his statements, Clarke said there had not been the opportunity because Sarkozy left the meeting ''halfway through.''

''He didn't feel it was appropriate to stay to the end of the discussions,'' Clarke said. Meanwhile, the investigation into the London bombings continues, with British police and intelligence officials handling the information they share with their European counterparts with extreme care. ''This leak by the French has been very badly perceived,'' said a senior intelligence official in one European police force. ''Since then, it's no longer worth it to try to get information from the British.''

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(Note that Lee Harvey Oswald and Mohamed Atta appear to have had doubles. The alleged 7 July bombers may have had doubles.)

Britain: outstanding questions on July 7 bombings warrant ...

London-Bombs: MOHAMMED SIDIQUE KHAN - Links to the security services.

Britain: More evidence suggests July 7 bombings were preventable

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