Desperate Londoners seek survivors after bombings

(Reuters) - Desperate Londoners hunted on Friday for relatives missing since suspected al Qaeda bombers killed more than 50 people in rush-hour blasts, while rescue workers struggled to retrieve bodies trapped deep underground.

Fears of more attacks and false alarms kept commuters and financial markets jittery, and authorities worldwide went on alert following threats from Islamic militants to strike other countries which, like Britain, have troops in Iraq.

A senior U.S. counterterrorism expert said European-born militants recruited by al Qaeda chief Abu Musab al-Zarqawi could be behind the bombings and a European Union official said no one was immune from the threat of attack.

A day after four bombs tore through three underground trains and a double-decker bus, London slowly got back to work. Some took the day off, but others ventured back onto the capital's creaking transport network, some fearful, many defiant.

Police said 49 people were confirmed dead, but emergency staff were still retrieving bodies trapped far underground in one of the subway system's deepest tunnels, where the city's police chief said the scene was one of "extraordinary horror".

Distraught relatives searched for missing loved-ones around hospitals, many handing out leaflets appealing for information.

"It is killing us," said Kim Beer, searching for her hair stylist son Phil, 22. "He always kisses me and cuddles me and tells me he loves me every time he goes out of the door -- which is what he did yesterday and I haven't seen or heard from him since."

BRITAIN DEFIANT

Queen Elizabeth, visiting the wounded in hospital, reflected the mood of many Britons by saying: "Those who perpetrate these brutal acts against innocent people ... will not change our way of life."

Psychologists said decades of bombings by Irish republicans could help Londoners deal with the trauma. Others highlighted the capital's resilience during World War Two.

"If London can survive the Blitz, it can survive four miserable events like this," said police chief Ian Blair.

Muslims across Britain mourned the dead and condemned the bombers at Friday prayers but expressed fears of a backlash.

The attacks were London's deadliest in peacetime and disrupted a summit of the leaders of the Group of Eight (G8) industrialised countries in Scotland.

Prime Minister Tony Blair vowed not to let the attacks derail the meeting and announced world leaders had agreed to more than double aid for Africa. After the summit, he returned to London to discuss the bombings with senior officials.

U.S. experts said they saw links with Osama bin Laden and Zarqawi's al Qaeda network, blamed for the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, on New York and Washington.

"We know that there has been direction given by bin Laden to Zarqawi to look to the West and to carry out attacks in Europe and other areas," a senior U.S. counterterrorism official said.

The official saw evidence of a "two-way pipeline" moving Islamic militants between Europe and Zarqawi's network in Iraq.

European Union Counter-Terrorism Coordinator Gijs de Vries said in Brussels the threat to Europe "remains serious and it remains only too real" and added: "There isn't a single country in Europe that can consider itself immune to this type of risk."

TRIUMPH AND TRAGEDY

London mayor Ken Livingstone said the city would soon bounce back, noting it had been a week of "triumph and tragedy" for the capital, awarded the 2012 Olympics the day before the bombings.

Police chief Blair said more than 50 people were killed in the blasts and 700 wounded, with 22 still critical.

The bomb that tore off the roof of a bus killed 13 people, he added, compared to an initial death toll of two on the bus. He said people of many countries had been caught up in the blast, including Australia, China, Poland, Portugal and Sierra Leone.

He said police did not suspect suicide bombers and believed more than one person carried out the attacks.

Police have made no arrests yet.

Investigators were examining a claim of responsibility from the "Secret Group of al Qaeda's Jihad in Europe" which said the blasts were punishment for Britain's involvement in Iraq. The group also warned Italy and Denmark to withdraw their troops.

But Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said the Italian withdrawal from Iraq would start as planned in September

• and no sooner. "We have to fulfil our commitments and cannot leave the job half done," he said at the G8 summit.

Andy Hayman, of the London police specialist operations branch, said each of the bombs was believed to have contained up to 10 lbs (4.5 kg) of explosives and could have been carried around in backpacks. The New York Times said timing devices rather than bombers set off the bombs.

The blasts battered financial markets on Thursday, but oil prices recovered to head back towards record highs near $62 on Friday and European share indexes rose by more than 1 percent, recouping most of the losses made on Thursday. British shares also recouped their losses, but sterling slid further.