Second Car Bomb Discovered In London

First Device Disarmed In Theater District; Another Explosive Device Found In Second Car

(CBS/AP) 
Peter Clarke told reporters that it was "too early to speculate as to who might be responsible... we are keeping an entirely open mind." He said a full investigation had been launched.

A BBC report cited anonymous officials in the government as saying initial signs pointed to an "international element" in the plot.

Intelligence sources who spoke to CBS News Friday morning seemed to express surprise at the discovery of the device, suggesting there had been "no warning, no intel, no smell" as a prelude to the plot — which reportedly had the British domestic intelligence agency, MI5, "very, very worried."

At his news conference Friday, Peter Clarke said there was "no indication that we were going to be attacked this way."

Prof. Clarke said that if the device was part of plot by a major Islamic terror group, there could well have been more devices planted in the city.

Aside from urging the public to remain vigilant, British authorities had not given any specific warning about other suspicious devices in the capital city.

The Mercedes sedan was loaded onto the back of a truck to be removed for a thorough forensic examination — an operation carried out slowly and meticulously by investigators in full white suits.

This city — like most of this country — is blanketed by closed-circuit TV. Authorities now are poring over video for clues to help track down whoever left the bomb here.

Security video helped track the movements of suicide bombers almost exactly two years ago, but not until after their attack on London's transit system which killed fifty-two people.

Now Britain's camera network is being used to try and find a bomber — or bombers — to prevent another attack.

"London at 2 o'clock in the morning is full of surveillance cameras," Prof. Clarke said. "This person will have been caught on camera at least 200 times coming in from any of the suburbs into the center of the city."

"It's impossible to make a bomb without leaving plenty of DNA behind, so more will come from that, too," he said.

CBS News correspondent Mark Knoller reports that White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe said: "We commend the British security services for their action today. U.S. officials are in contact with their U.K. counterparts and will continue to monitor the situation."

Former Scotland Yard detective John O'Connor told CBS' Early Show that terror activities in Britain usually involve fairly well-orchestrated networks, with strategists "behind the scenes who choose the targets, who advise on the construction of the bombs."

He said these planners "normally get some dupe, some guy they've convinced should become a martyr for Islam ... to deliver the bomb."

O'Connor drew comparisons to the device found in London and others that are frequently used by terror groups in hot spots around the world, such as the Gaza Strip and Iraq.

"It's the people that are behind it that matter," he said.

The incident comes a week before the second anniversary of the July 7 London bombings, when four British Muslim suicide bombers killed themselves and 52 bus and subway passengers.

For more than a year, the government has held the country's terrorist threat level at severe — which means a terrorist attack is highly likely.

The Haymarket, where the car was found, is the site of restaurants, bars, a cinema complex and, most famously, theaters. On a Thursday night, the area would have been buzzing with crowds of people. The broad street links Piccadilly Circus in the north to the Pall Mall at its southern end.