Blast hardens resolve for peace deal - politicians

A massive car bomb that injured seven people when it rocked London will strengthen resolve to achieve a Northern Ireland peace deal, politicians on all sides said today.

The blast was designed to maim and kill as young people left pubs in Ealing, west London, late last night.

Police said a warning received from the terrorists - believed to be Irish dissident republicans - was so vague it was lucky the scene was not one of mass murder.

Ulster Secretary John Reid said it achieved no purpose other than to remind people of what they were trying to escape from.

‘‘Far from deflecting us, last night’s barbaric attack should strengthen our resolve to reach agreement,’’ he said. ‘‘No one will understand if we allow the solution that is within our grasp to slip away.’’

In Northern Ireland, Sinn Fein’s Gerry Kelly said the blast was ‘‘absolutely wrong’’ and an attempt to undermine ‘‘all our efforts to move the situation forward’’.

The bomb - 88lb of explosives packed into a Saab saloon car - went off at midnight at Ealing Broadway as the streets were busy with people heading home.

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Alan Fry said the ‘‘evil’’ terrorists gave less than half an hour’s warning, did not say exactly where or when the bomb would detonate, and nor what type of car it was in.

Six people suffered shrapnel wounds but none had life-threatening injuries. A police woman was also slightly injured.

Malcolm Peek, 22, said: ‘‘There was nothing left of the car. It was just four wheels and a pile of flames. All the windows in the area were blown in.’’

Danielle Nelson, 19, a law student from Northolt, who was singing The Power of Love in a pub karaoke when the bomb went off, said: ‘‘I looked round and saw a huge ball of flame.’’

Schoolgirl Nikki Cox, 16, of Ealing, who was outside The Bell pub said: ‘‘It was just a mass of panic.’’

She added: ‘‘All the glass from the shop windows just fell to the ground and people ran out of the pub. They all began to run towards the bomb not knowing where the explosion had come from.’’

Darryn Crout, manager of the Hogshead pub, said: ‘‘It was like an earthquake. The sheer force of it knocked me back.’’

He said two policemen sheltering in a doorway had the engine from the car land in front of them.

Worayot Anuvatnujotikul, 24, an IT consultant, said: ‘‘At first I thought it was someone playing with fireworks. But suddenly there was glass flying around and coming over my head.’’

Mr Fry said the blast was a ‘‘completely reckless terrorist attack’’ by people seeking to maim and kill.

He said the vague warning - which came at 11.33pm in a phone call to a doctor’s on-call service - had made it virtually impossible to find the bomb.

‘‘It is fortunate indeed that we are not dealing with mass murder and people critically injured,’’ he said.

‘‘The intended victims were wholly innocent, mainly young people enjoying a night out.’’

Prime Minister Tony Blair was informed of the blast while on his official visit to Mexico.

A spokesman for him said his sympathies were with the victims and added: ‘‘He believes that the way forward in Northern Ireland can only be through dialogue.’’

Alex Maskey, Sinn Fein’s chief negotiator, said: ‘‘What it tells us is that we have a major responsibility on ourselves, all of us, that includes the Government, to implement the Good Friday Agreement which is what people in very high numbers voted for - that’s what we’ve got to do.’’

Liberal Democrat MP for North East Fife Menzies Campbell said that by resorting to violence those responsible for the bombing had admitted they had lost the argument.

Andrew Mackay, Shadow Northern Ireland Secretary, urged the Government not to offer ‘‘further concessions’’ on security because paramilitaries had not kept to their side of the peace deal.