World condemns London attacks
World leaders have unanimously condemned yesterday’s terrorist attacks in London, in which at least 37 people died and 700 were wounded.
Speaking before flying to the G8 summit in Gleneagles, UN secretary general Kofi Annan said “the atrocious bombings” were tantamount to an “attack on humanity” itself.
He expressed his solidarity with Britons and the British government in this “hour of trial” but reinforced Tony Blair’s determination that the meeting of the world’s richest nations in Scotland would continue.
“The world stands shoulder to shoulder with the British people, who with others around the world had mobilised so powerfully against poverty and climate change ahead of the Group of Eight summit, and who, I am sure, will confront this ordeal with the same spirit, courage and determination,” he said.
“I look to the Group of Eight, in their deliberations over the next few days, to show themselves equal to that resolve.
“Let us not allow the violence perpetrated by a few to deflect us from addressing the aspirations of billions of our fellow men and women who are demanding change.”
US president George Bush urged extra vigilance in the coming days and months, saying from Gleneagles: “The war on terror goes on.
“I was most impressed by the resolve of all the leaders in the room. Their resolve is as strong as my resolve. We will not yield to these people, will not yield to the terrorists.”
Pope Benedict XVI described the attacks as “inhuman and anti-Christian” in a telegram to Cardinal Cormac Murphy O’Connor, the archbishop of Westminster.
Jacques Chirac’s spokesman, Jerome Bonnafont, said the French president was horrified at the terrorist outrage: “The president told the British prime minister that the tragic events in London fill him with horror, and expressed his grief and condolence.”
EU commission president Jose Manuel Barroso expressed his “deepest sympathy, condolences” for the “unjustifiable attack”.
Palestinian authority negotiator Saeb Erakat “strongly condemned” the bombings, adding: “We present our condolences to the British people and their government.”
Nato secretary general Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said: “There can be no justification for such heinous crimes.”
In a letter to Tony Blair, Iraq’s parliament speaker, Hajim al-Hassani, condemned the attacks.
“I condemn in the strongest terms these attacks, which underline the need for the international community and members of the alliance to remain united in the fight against terrorism,” he said.
Mr Blair said the British people would stand firm against the bombers: “When they try to divide our people or weaken our resolve, we will not be divided and our resolve will hold firm.
“We will show by our sprit and dignity and by the quiet but true strength that there is in the British people that our values will long outlast theirs.”
