As Britain copes, a massive hunt for London bombers

The problem for the government, experts say, is that there is little more they can do. Already they have formidable powers to impose "control orders" on suspects, subjecting them to surveillance, electronic tagging, Internet bans, and even house arrest. Sunday, three people were arrested under the prevention of terrorism act, but police would not link the detentions to Thursday's bombings.

Further initiatives are difficult to conceive, without sacrificing British civil liberties. There aren't many more laws to be passed that haven't already been passed, says Rhiannon Talbot, an expert in terrorism at Newcastle University. "The UK has some of the most stringent antiterrorism laws in the world."

She dismisses the idea that identity cards, which the government already intends to bring in, can make a difference. Instead, she says the government would do better to concentrate on the causes of terror. "You can start thinking about the underlying problems that drive people into signing up to these organizations, and often it's straightforward issues like social exclusion and abuse of rights."

Wilkinson says the authorities should take care not to overreact and not to offend mainstream Muslim sentiment. He says there are things that could be undertaken to strengthen the legal process, allowing the use of electronic intercept evidence in court and using judges who are specially trained for terrorism cases.

Public opinion would appear to be solidly in favor of robust measures to tighten loopholes. A YouGov poll published over the weekend found that 81 percent of people supported taking action against people who have not yet committed any offense, but are under suspicion because of intelligence evidence. Prime Minister Tony Blair's ratings have gone up, and 68 percent said the government was doing well in the battle against terrorism, despite Thursday's attacks.

London endured an emotional weekend after its worst-ever terrorist episode. Half-empty on Friday, it was steeped in mourning for the 49 dead on Saturday, while relatives of the dozens still missing embarked on grim inquiries for information.

Fittingly perhaps, the city was draped in the flag Sunday for the anniversary of a great triumph over terror: the end of World War II. Defiant octogenarians scoffed at terrorists who thought they could achieve what the Nazis couldn't: London's surrender. The Queen vowed that terrorism would not alter Britain's way of life.

Indeed, the British "bulldog" spirit appeared alive and well in some corners. A day after the bombing, a taxi driver put up this sign in his cab: "You can break our hearts, but you cant break our spirit." Roddy, the driver, said: "I've never had so many people agree with me on one day in my entire life."

But at "Underground zero," the makeshift shrine outside King's Cross station, where rescuers are still searching for bodies, the mood was somber.

"It's scary," said Leon Arthur, as he surveyed the flowers piling up. "You're driving along and there's buses going by and you don't know if one of them's going to go off."

Others are concerned about living in a paranoid society, and say that locking down cities and curbing civil liberties would give terrorists an easy victory. "I don't want to be searched every time you go through a gate," says fisherman Lionel Cox, casting his line into Reading's Kennet River. "I don't want to live in a society like that."

• Stephen Humphries in Reading and Robert Marquand in London contributed to this report.

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