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3 charged over London bombings

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LONDON, England (CNN) -- Three men arrested by police last month will be charged in the July 7, 2005, terrorist attacks on London's transit system that killed 52 people, police said Thursday.

They are the first suspects to be charged in the bombings, which also wounded more than 900 people.

Four men who died in the attacks set off bombs on subway trains at Russell Square, Kings Cross and Edgware Road, and on a double-decker bus at Tavistock Square.

The three men in custody are identified by police as Mohammed Shakil, 30, and Sadeer Saleem, 26, both from Beeston, West Yorkshire, a suburb of Leeds; and Waheed Ali, 23, who recently resided in East London but lived in Beeston most of his life.

Until recently, Ali was known as Shipon Ullah, police said.

They are accused of reconnaissance and planning with those who carried out the bombings, police announced in a brief media briefing.

Officially, they are charged with unlawfully and maliciously planning and conspiring with the four suicide bombers, said Peter Clarke, head of counter-terrorism at Scotland Yard. He said they also are suspected of conspiring to cause explosions at tourist attractions in London. (Watch Clarke say he is sure the suspects know more than they are telling )

Two of the men were preparing to board a plane to Pakistan when they were arrested, police have said.

Clarke said he knows there are people who know more information about the case but aren't coming forward, and urged them to call a Scotland Yard hot line, which keeps calls confidential.

The terrorism hot line number is 0800 789 321.

"We still need information about the four men who set the bombs off: Mohammed Siddique Khan, Shezad Tanweer, Hasib Hussain and Jermaine Lindsay. There are still some gaps in our knowledge of what they were doing in the weeks and months leading up to the attacks," Clarke said.

"We need to learn more about their meetings and travel."

But he added, "We will find out. it is only a matter of time."

He said there were 21 months of intense investigation by the Metropolitan Police and West Yorkshire Police before the arrests. They took more than 15,000 statements and followed about 19,000 leads.

More arrests are expected, Clarke said.

Police have discovered much more than can be released publicly, because of the pending legal case and likely trials, Clarke said.

"It is probably fair to describe it as a complicated jigsaw with thousands of pieces. We have enough of the pieces in the right place to be able to see the picture, but it's far from complete."

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