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Moving tributes mark 7/7 attacks
SPECIAL REPORTYOUR E-MAIL ALERTSLONDON, England (CNN) -- Poignant tributes were being made in London as Britain marked one year since four suicide bombers killed 52 people in the London Underground system and on a bus. Wreaths were being laid and commemorative plaques unveiled close to where the bombs went off on London's "Tube" and at the site of the bus bombing, Tavistock Square. Under the great dome of St. Paul's Cathedral, as its bells tolled, candles were lit at the exact time the bombs went off -- the first at 8:50 a.m. (0750 GMT). At King's Cross station floral tributes were laid by Cabinet minister Tessa Jowell, London mayor Ken Livingstone and London Underground managing director Tim O'Toole. After laying their wreaths, they stood solemnly in silence, heads bowed, to honor of the 52 innocent people who lost their lives in the attacks. The commemorative events moved on to Tavistock Square, where 13 died in the bus explosion. Livingstone was joined by George Psaradakis, 50, the Greek-born driver of the number 30 bus that was ripped apart by one of the bombs. The wreckage became one of the defining images of the carnage. At exactly 9.47 a.m (0847 GMT), Psaradakis laid a memorial wreath in tribute to the victims, reading: "You will never be forgotten. May you rest in peace." At Russell Square Underground station Tube staff observed a minute's silence. Among the people who laid flowers at the scene was 30-year-old Susan Harrison, who lost a leg when the bomb exploded close to the carriage she was travelling in. A nationwide two-minute silence was due at midday (1100 GMT) that Prime Minister Tony Blair was to observe with emergency workers. A memorial service was taking place at London's Regent's Park beginning at 6 p.m. (1700 GMT). Hundreds of purple carnations stood ready in Regent's Park early Friday morning as Londoners were invited to help create a huge floral tribute to those who died. A seven-petal flower template, 40 feet across, was set up in Queen Mary's Garden in the park close to where the commemorative event was being held. The template quickly filled as people stopped off on their way to work or passed through the park to take part in the flower laying. One woman who lives in apartments near the park said the scene it brought back many memories of the "silence, stillness and quietness" following the explosions as traffic and other activity in the capital came to a standstill. She told the UK's Press Association: "This shows people how strong we are in this country. It just shows how many people still remember but it lets them remember and then get on with things, that's what we do." The memorial day comes one day after a videotape was aired on Al-Jazeera television in which one of the suicide bombers said there would be more violence.(Suicide bomber says there will be more attacks -- 2.01) "What you have witnessed now is only the beginning of a series of attacks that will continue and pick up strengths till you pull your soldiers from Afghanistan and Iraq and stop your financial and military aid to America and Israel," said suicide bomber Shehzad Tanweer, 22, who delivered what was called his last will and testament in English. He was killed in the July 7, 2005 attack. CNN terrorism analyst Peter Bergen said the latest video is more evidence that "the London attacks were a classic al Qaeda operation and not the work of self-starting terrorists as has been repeatedly suggested in the media." Tanweer had traveled to Pakistan together in late 2004, and that is where senior British officials believe the so-called last will and testament videotapes were recorded. Media outrageBritish newspapers expressed outrage at the timing of the video's release. "Damn You To Hell," the Daily Mirror said in its banner headline on Friday beside a picture of Tanweer. The Daily Mail called it "a cynical ploy to hijack the news agenda on the anniversary of the massacre." On its front page it carried pictures of every one of the 52 victims of the bombers and said: "Yesterday, those behind the 7/7 atrocity released a video of one of the bombers. Their aim, on this poignant anniversary, was to keep the victims of their evil act off the front page. They failed." Assistant London police commissioner Andy Hayman said authorities are "aware of the tape," the release of which he said "can only cause maximum hurt and distress to the families and friends of those who died on 7/7 and the hundreds of people who were injured in the terrorist attacks." He believes the "overwhelming majority of all communities" in Britain oppose any attempt to "justify" last year's attack. "We would like to reassure the public that police are doing all they can to ensure their safety. It is important that people continue to go about their daily lives as normal, to do otherwise would mean the terrorist has won." The video comes on the heels of a series of al Qaeda productions in the past two weeks, including messages from both al-Zawahiri and Osama bin Laden about the death of al Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. ConcernA survey by the Pew Global Attitudes Project released in Washington on Thursday showed 42 percent of Britons were very concerned about a rise in Islamic extremism in Britain compared to 34 percent a year ago, Reuters reported. Meanwhile despite their frequent condemnation of such statements, many of Britain's 1.8 million Muslims feel their community has been unfairly targeted by the police since the attacks. Two botched anti-terrorist operations in which police shot two innocent men, killing one of them, have not helped, Reuters added. Survivors of the bombings say the official report into the attacks, published in May, did not answer all their questions. Many want a full public inquiry into the day which, like the September 11 attacks in the United States, has become etched into the British psyche as a simple but potent date -- 7/7. Four men were arrested after police said they thwarted a similar attack on July 21 last year when bombs failed to explode. Metropolitan Police Commissioner Ian Blair said that the threat of further terrorist attacks in the UK had "palpably increased" and the possibility of another attack was "very real". Blair told the BBC the threat to the country, which he said was "very grim," came from both inside and outside. This could be seen by attacks that the police had thwarted in the last few months, he said. CNN Senior Arab Affairs Editor Octavia Nasr and Senior Producer Henry Schuster contributed to this report 
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