London - Hours before British police averted a car bomb attack in London, a message appeared in an Internet chat room sometimes used by al-Qaeda, warning "London shall be bombed," CBS News reported on Friday.
The 300-word posting appeared on the Al-Hesbah chat room and was left by a person identified as Abu Osama al-Hazeen, the report on the CBS website, said.
"In the name of God, the most compassionate, the most merciful. Is Britain longing for al-Qaeda's bombings?" CBS quoted the message as saying.
"Today, I say: Rejoice, by Allah, London shall be bombed," continued the message, which also condemned the knighthood recently awarded to "Satanic Verses" author Salman Rushdie and the British role in Iraq.
Continues Below ↓
CBS said in the report that it was unable to independently confirm any link between the posting made on Thursday night and the discovery of the car bomb on Friday.
The Al-Hesbah site is one of the most widely used Jihadist Internet forums and has in the past featured material from al-Qaeda and the Taliban, the report said.
The head of Scotland Yard's counter-terrorism unit Peter Clarke earlier declined to speculate on who was behind the bomb - comprising gas cylinders, petrol and nails - found outside a nightclub near Piccadilly Circus. - Sapa-AFP
|