Australian Prime Minister John Howard said on Friday that he has been told
that the number of people killed in the London terrorist bombings has risen to
52 and the figure is expected to increase.
He told reporters here that he wants to express sympathy to the British
people on behalf of the government and all Australians.
He also said that Australia will send a team of six experts from police
forces and the transport department to London to help with the investigation.
"This brutal, indiscriminate, unforgivable attack on innocent people going
about their daily lives is a mark of the depraved character of the people who
carried it out, a mark of their utter alienation from the mainstream of any
noble thoughts or religious convictions to be found anywhere in the world," he
said.
The prime minister said there is no intelligence to suggest hiscountry would
be the next target of terrorist attacks.
"We do not have any specific intelligence of any kind suggesting that because
this attack has taken place it is more likely there would be an attack on the
Australian homeland," he said.
But, he continued, "I have never hidden or concealed my view that this
country could experience a very serious terrorist attack."
Howard confirmed that seven Australians were injured in the London attacks,
with one remaining in a "very critical" condition.