TWO men were injured, one seriously, when a letter bomb exploded yesterday at the headquarters of a London based Saudi Arabian newspaper. Four other similar devices were later detonated by anti terrorism officers.
The letter, containing a small amount of Semtex and believed to have been posted from Egypt, exploded in the post room of Al Hayat's offices in Kensington, west London, at 9.10, injuring two security guards.
Mr Barry Roach (46) from Paddington, west London, received serious facial and abdominal injuries in the blast. His condition is described as "stable". His colleague, Mr Andy McKenzie (35) from Wimbledon, southwest London, suffered shock and burst ear drums. He was later released from hospital.
Dr Hugh Millington, a consultant at Charing Cross hospital's accident and emergency unit, said Mr Roach underwent eye surgery but it was still possible that he might lose an eye.
Scotland Yard sources indicated a belief that an Egyptian based Islamic extremist group is behind this latest attack on the Al Hayat newspaper. The same organisation is thought to have also sent five letter bombs, which were mailed from the Middle East, to the paper's Washington office just before Christmas.
Mr Kamaran Karradachi, Al Hayat's senior political editor, said he was not surprised by the bomb attack and that staff had been warned to be extra vigilant.
"Our office in Washington has recently received letter bombs. Last time we got them before they exploded, this time our security staff have been injured. Maybe it is because we publish different kinds of views, we maybe have different types of enemies," he added.
Anti terrorism officers immediately evacuated the six storey office block and sealed off the area as they searched for further devices. Controlled explosions on four other devices were carried out at half hour intervals.
Mr Jihad Khazen, the newspaper's editor, said the organisation had not received any warning about the devices and that he had installed a scanning machine after the Washington letter bombs. No one was injured in those attacks.
After stating that the newspaper would be published today, Mr Khazen added: "We would like to know which party we have provoked. We have been criticising extremism in the Arab world for the last eight years.
"I hope and pray there will be no attacks. We will not change. We will maintain our moderate position on Arab and international affairs."
Al Hayat, which is printed in Arabic, is described as 90 per cent Lebanese and sells an estimated 165,000 copies daily worldwide.
The Saudi ambassador in London, Dr Ghazi Algosaibi, praised the anti terrorism officers for dealing so "promptly and efficiently" with the devices.
"This is a criminal, cowardly act which illustrates the mentality of the perpetrators. Those who cannot face ideas resort to bombs," he added.