MICHAEL ROWLAND: It's a view shared by Jonathan Stevenson of the London based International Institute for Strategic Studies.
JONATHAN STEVENSON: You can take on board with some plausibility the claim of credit by the al-Qaeda group in Europe, even if that's just a mouthpiece for another upstart organisation.
But I think we can infer that this group was, at the very least, inspired by al-Qaeda, and perhaps had some more intimate connection to the leadership, or at least some kind of middleman from the leadership.
As people have observed, it does bear striking similarities to the Madrid attack, and I think probably is motivated by similar factors – to whit, the desire to drive a wedge between the United States and its European partners, of which Britain is certainly the closest.
Reporter: Michael Rowland
ELIZABETH JACKSON: The timing of the attacks is also being noted, given that they happened just as the G8 meeting was getting underway in Scotland.
Our Washington Correspondent, Michael Rowland reports.
MICHAEL ROWLAND: For terrorism experts like former CIA Deputy Director Jim McLaughlin, al-Qaeda's fingerprints are all over the London bombings.
JIM MCLAUGHLIN: They bear the same characteristics as the attacks that we've seen that were al-Qaeda or al-Qaeda-affiliated in places like Madrid, Istanbul, Bali, Casablanca, in that they were targeted against indiscriminate killing of civilians in multiple locations with small explosions. There's that.
There's the fact that it apparently had significant planning behind it in order to have this timed so carefully with the G8 summit, which would be an important symbolic event for al-Qaeda for a variety of reasons.
And there's the fact that the targeting here is in one of the financial capitals of the world, one of the goals of al-Qaeda or course is to damage us financially, and this is one way that they think they would be doing it.
MICHAEL ROWLAND: It's a view shared by Jonathan Stevenson of the London based International Institute for Strategic Studies.
JONATHAN STEVENSON: You can take on board with some plausibility the claim of credit by the al-Qaeda group in Europe, even if that's just a mouthpiece for another upstart organisation.
But I think we can infer that this group was, at the very least, inspired by al-Qaeda, and perhaps had some more intimate connection to the leadership, or at least some kind of middleman from the leadership.
As people have observed, it does bear striking similarities to the Madrid attack, and I think probably is motivated by similar factors – to whit, the desire to drive a wedge between the United States and its European partners, of which Britain is certainly the closest.
MICHAEL ROWLAND: And Jonathan Stevenson says if one of the motivations of the attacks was to disrupt the G8 meeting, then the perpetrators have been wildly successful.
JONATHAN STEVENSON: I think it has to be at least construed as significant. I mean, for one thing, a terrorist attack in the host country of the G8 summit takes the steam out of the meeting of the G8.
And it also acquires that, captures that meeting as a captive audience. And one can imagine that it basically changes the headlines and shifts the focus of conversation, in that very meeting.
MICHAEL ROWLAND: If al-Qaeda is indeed responsible for the attacks it would show the terror group is alive and well despite the concerted global effort to destroy it. It would also demonstrate the organization is very carefully picking and choosing its targets.
Many observers had feared the next big attack would again be in the United States, although former CIA official John McLaughlin believes it was only a matter of time before a city like London was hit.
JOHN MCLAUGHLIN: But I would say that Europe is more vulnerable than most people understand or believe. If you just look over the last six months or so there have been a number of important arrests in Europe of terrorists, including people affiliated with a group called Ansar al-Islam, which is in turn linked to Zarqawi, who operates in Iraq. So he has people affiliated with him reaching into Europe.
MICHAEL ROWLAND: As cities across the world ramp up their security alerts, it's becoming increasingly clear that even the most comprehensive counter-terrorist efforts are proving no match for individuals determined to inflict such indiscriminate and senseless violence on an unsuspecting public.
In Washington, this is Michael Rowland for the The World Today
