Security Services Tracked London Bombers

LONDON - Security services secretly followed the four bombers who killed 52 people on London's transport network a year before the July 7th attacks, the Daily Mirror reported on Thursday.

Intelligence officers ended the surveillance operation after deciding the men posed no threat, the newspaper reported, citing an unnamed police source.

The four young Britons went on to detonate homemade bombs concealed in rucksacks on three underground trains and a bus at about 9am on July 7th.

The men – Germaine Lindsay, Shehzad Tanweer, Hasib Hussain and Mohammed Sidique Khan – were on a list of 100 suspected extremists in Britain, the Mirror reported.

Security services kept watch on them for several weeks before concluding they "did not fit the preconceived terrorist profile", the report said.

The BBC said last month that officials secretly filmed Khan during a 2004 surveillance operation. It was unclear if it was during the same inquiry as the one outlined by the Daily Mirror.

A London police spokeswoman declined to comment. No one at the Home Office, which handles inquiries about the domestic security services, could be reached for comment.

The July 7th events were followed two weeks later by a failed attempt to set off four more bombs in London. The attacks prompted the government and police to increase security across Britain.