London 21/7: The Bombers Had No Bombs

Following on from this post about the Number 30 bus that exploded on 7 July, and the release of the worst Al Qaeda video effort yet, The Antagonist thinks now is an opportune place in space and time to draw attention to a couple of things.

Firstly, the hydrogen peroxide explosion on the M25 earlier in the week, demonstrating precisely what a hydrogen peroxide explosion looks like and, secondly, Romeo Romeo's comment on this blog about the 21 July 'suicide bombers' that didn't have any bombs.

Romeo Romeo said...

21st July bombers had no bombs

This is about as much information as I have seen regarding the "BOMBS" from the 21st July events. I have not seen this information posted or discussed anywhere else yet so you consider yourself honoured Mr Antagonist.

As Mr Issac's Italian lawyer had stated shortly after his arrest in Italy that the "BOMBS" were not capable of destruction and were in fact only detonators in an inert substrate; as indeed was orginally reported by the BBC in the first hour or two after the events.

Looking at the statements below we can deduce:

a) the "BOMB" substrate, i.e. the primary explosive consisted of:
- Flour
- Hair Lotion
- Nails
- Nuts
- Bolts

b) the "BOMB" featured a battery with wires attached to the detonator substrate.

c) the detonator substrate consisted of TATP, a homemade explosive.

Whilst having no formal qualifications in explosives chemistry or demolitions, my 'scientific intuition' tells me that flour and hair lotion are not suitable for use in bombs as they do not feature any explosive properties at all, ever.

So as was originally reported, briefly by the BBC, these were not bombs as such, merely detonantors embedded in a mix of flour and a tub of Stu-Stu-Studio Line.

The only people who could possibly have been hurt are the "SUICIDE BOMBERS" themselves, and then only if they got caught in the tube doors when they were closing or perhaps gave themselves a papercut when reading the Metro. Maybe if they were wearing flowing robes they could have got caught in the escalator, whichever way - the "bombs" would not have hurt them.

THESE WERE NOT SUICIDE BOMBERS, THEY COULD NEVER HAVE BEEN.

HAMDI ISSAC, JUDGES: WAS INVOLVED IN PREPARATION OF BOMBS

(AGI) - Rome, Italy, Aug.17
Hamdi Issac's support to the setting up of the - failed - London bombings of 21 July was "significant", reports the ruling of the judges panel which authorised today his extradition to the UK. "The arrested - points out the Court - not only attended meetings aimed at planning the event, and was also involved in the preparation of the actual bombs, following Muktar's orders, placing the detonator". Besides, Issac "chose the place and the means of public transport where the explosion was supposed to occur". Regarding the bomb preparation method, the Ethiopian - wrote the judges - said that it consisted in "using plastic containers, putting flour, hair lotion, nails, nuts and bolts and attach everything to a primitive device featuring a battery, which included a powder to act as a detonator once it had been manually attached to some electric wires". Issac has always said the bombs were not made to injur people, but to be a "demonstrative act".

The European arrest warrant, reports the Court, "includes a preliminary appraisal of the bombs found in the four places chosen for the explosions of 21 July, which states that TATP or HMTD explosive material was used for the detonation mechanism. Both these materials are peroxide-based". The requesting judge pointed out that "the contained material has explosive properties. A sample of the white powder found on the detonator of the non-exploded bombs, found in the gardens of Little Wormwood Scrubs, was identified as TATP, which, as HMTD, is often used for bombings, since they are easy to prepare, using widely marketed products". (AGI)

So now you know.