Profile of 2 Young Terrorists

Here’s a sad story for fathers, especially Asian fathers. What do you want from your young sons? You dream of them exceeding your own status, ability and prosperity (if you enjoy any). You dream of a happy and prosperous life for them. You want them to have a wonderful family, one where many children play happily to your eye’ delight.

Then you received news that they have died, and as if that can ever be worsened, you learnt they were the terrorists that bombed the subways and bus of London.

Hasib Hussein, 19, and Shehzad Tanweer, 22, Britons of Pakistani origin who lived in Leeds were 2 of the 4 terrorists who perished. The former detonated the bomb on Bus No 30, while the latter did so on the train near Edgware Road.

The remaining two, as yet unnamed, had similar backgrounds – British young men.

Hussein and Tanweer and the other bombers travelled to London by commuter train from Luton. They separated at Kings Cross station before launching their attacks in Thursday morning's rush hour.

Hussein told his parents he was going to visit friends in London, but when he idn’t answer his phone his parents became worried and informed the police.

The police found a body wearing clothes similar to those Hussein was last seen in, and noticed that he appeared to have been very close to the blast. This was the berakthrough they had hope for. They checked the CCTV at King’s Cross and saw Hussein with three other young men, all carrying rucksacks.

From then, it was a matter of picking up and identifying driving licences and credit cards that survived the blasts,

Hussein was described as a bit wild when he was a younger teenager, but had became devoutly religious about 18 months ago. Tanweer, whose family run a fish and chip shop in a suburb of Leeds, was a good student who played cricket for a local team, friends told the newspaper – he was the last sort of guy one would expect to be a terrorist. Friends described him as a sweet guy who gets on with everybody, and the kind of guy who would always condemn extremism.

Both have just returned from Pakistan.