A huge overnight security alert in the city of Birmingham kept Britons on edge yesterday, just three days after bombs ripped through London?s transport network killing at least 50 people. Police evacuated 20,000 people from the centre of the country?s second city during the night and carried out a controlled explosion on a bus. They found no bombs but said the drastic measures were fully justified.

?The threat that we responded to yesterday was very specific,? West Midlands police chief constable Paul Scott-Lee told a news conference. ?It was specific about the time and also the locations ... The people of Birmingham were in danger last night.?

As the city began to get back to normal, police continued their hunt for those who set off three bombs on the London Underground and blew up a doubledecker bus in a fourth blast.

Police said the three subway bombs went off almost simultaneously, making it more likely they were detonated by timers, rather than suicide bombers. That means the bombers may still be at large and could strike again, they said.

Anxious relatives continued to scour London?s hospitals in search of loved ones missing since Thursday?s blasts ? the worst peacetime attacks on the British capital. Investigators are still trying to retrieve bodies from a hot, narrow and rat-infested tunnel deep below ground at King?s Cross station.

Police, who have made no arrests, said they were looking for no specific individuals and that the bombs were made of high explosive, not home-made materials.

Three Islamist groups have claimed responsibility for the blasts, which government ministers said bore the hallmarks of the Islamic militant al Qaeda network, which was behind the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States. None of the claims has been confirmed

Writing in the News of the World newspaper yesterday, London?s former police chief, Sir John Stevens, said he believed the bombings were almost certainly carried out by British terrorists, not foreigners. He said police had foiled at least eight similar attacks in Britain in the past five years.

The bombings were expected to cast a shadow over celebrations in central London to mark the 60th anniversary of the end of World War Two. Many observers have made comparisons between the way people dealt with this week?s attacks and the way a previous generation of Londoners coped with the wartime Blitz.

One Sunday newspaper printed photographs of emergency services treating survivors from Thursday?s bombings alongside black and white photos from the war. ?Different enemy, same spirit?, ran the headline above the photos.

<B>Al Qaeda recruiting </B>

According to the Sunday Times newspaper, al Qaeda is secretly recruiting Muslims in British colleges. It is especially looking for students with engineering or computer expertise, the paper added, citing what it said was a leaked report from the Home Office and Foreign Office.

It quoted the report as saying: ?Extremists are known to target schools and colleges where young people may be very inquisitive but less challenging and more susceptible to extremist reasoning.?

The Iraq war was one of the key causes of young British Muslims turning to terrorism, the report added. ?It seems that a particularly strong cause of disillusionment among Muslims is a perceived ?double standard? in the foreign policy of western governments, in particular Britain and the US,? the report was quoted as saying.

British police are trying to determine whether last Thursday?s bombers were foreign extremists or ?home grown? radicals from among the 1,6 million Muslims in Britain. No official comment on the report was immediately available.

VATICAN

<B>Pope prays for London bombers and victims</B>

■ Pope Benedict yesterday told bombers who attacked London to stop their killings, while praying that God would touch their hearts and teach them to respect life. ?We pray for the people killed, for those injured and for their loved ones. But we even pray for the attackers: Lord, touch their hearts,? Benedict said, addressing crowds in St. Peter?s Square after his weekly Angelus blessing. ?To those who foment feelings of hate and carry out such revolting terrorist acts, I say: God loves life, which he created, not death. And I say, stop, in the name of God.?

ANALYSIS

<B> Blair emerges stronger from tumultuous week</B>

■ Britain?s Tony Blair has emerged stronger after a week in which he has experienced the sweetest highs and darkest lows, politicians and insiders say. The prime minister punched the air after helping London win the 2012 Olympics but a day later the capital?s transport network was struck by four bombs, killing more than 50. Sombre but unbowed, he secured from fellow Group of Eight leaders a doubling of aid to Africa and promises of freer trade in the future, announcing it to applause from his counterparts. Some critics felt short-changed but it was still a deal, the scale of which most summits have got nowhere near. Blair said it offered a positive counterpoint to the terrorists who bombed three underground trains and a bus. «We offer today this contrast with the politics of terror,» he told reporters from the steps of the Gleneagles hotel. While rock star and Africa activist Bob Geldof praised Blair?s efforts, political insiders said the attacks on London also dealt the prime minister a strong, if unwelcome, hand. His opponents will have to rally round in a show of unity. Controversial measures like ID cards, which ministers argue will help combat terrorism, will probably sail into law without any revolt by doubtful members of his Labour party.