Police sources have told the BBC they had not recovered any timing devices from the bomb scenes, possibly indicating that detonation was by hand

This is the most significant paragraph in the entire story. If the bombs had no timers, then it was the work of suicide bombers. It would be (almost) impossible for someone to remote detonate a bomb deep underground in the subway system of London, where mobile/cell phone reception does not exist.

On the other hand, if there were timers, then it may indicate these men had no intention of being suicide bombers at all. And that raises the question of what the bombers knew. Did they know they were carrying bombs but thought they would get away safely? Or did they have no clue what was in their backpacks and were completely tricked by someone else?

As I explained in Part 2 of my investigation, there seems to be a lot of evidence that these men were neither fanatical nor suicidal. Not only was Siddique Khan married with a young child (and his wife was pregnant), but Lindsey Germaine (also known as Lindsey Jamal) was also married and had a pregnant wife. That wife, I might mention, is a white British woman and believes her husband is innocent.

Siddique Khan not only worked with developmentally disabled children for years, but he was also described as a mentor to many youth:

Few men were more popular on the streets of Beeston than the 30-year-old family man. Recognised by his sensible sweaters and neat, coiffeured hairstyle, Khan's respectability peaked nine months ago when he visited Parliament as the guest of a local MP. There he was praised for his teaching work. Even now, those who hang about Cross Flatt's Park describe him as their mentor. He remains the man who coaxed them back into the education system; the bloke who took them on canoeing and camping trips to the nearby Yorkshire Dales; the man who bought them 'loads of extra bullets' when he took them paint-balling. Hussain and Tanweer were among those who idolised Khan from his days as a youth worker in Beeston when he had nurtured their love of cricket and football.

So he was a mentor, a teacher of mentally challenged children, a guest of a local MP (Jon Trickett, whose wife was the head of the school where Khan taught for 3.5 years) but he's out there encouraging kids to stay in school and mentoring them. Surely he had to have known that a bomb on a crowded subway might've killed children and would definitely have killed the parents of innocent children.

The family of Hasib Hussain, age 18, says they had no idea their son was involved in anything fanatical:

"We are devastated over the events of the past few days. Hasib was a loving and normal young man who gave us no concern and we are having difficulty taking this in.

"Our thoughts are with all the bereaved families. We have to live with the loss of our son in these difficult circumstances.

"We had no knowledge of his activities and, had we done, we would have done everything in our power to stop him. We urge anyone with information to cooperate fully with the authorities."

The family of Shehzad Tanweer said about the same:

His uncle, Bashir Ahmed, 65, said the family was "shattered" by the revelation that he appeared to have been involved.

"He was proud to be British," he said. "He had everything to live for. His parents were loving and supportive.

"He was a very kind and calm person. He was respected by everyone."

Then there are reports that all four men bought return tickets for the train when they got on board at Luton. Why bother buying return tickets if you're going to kill yourself? That makes absolutely no sense whatsoever.

Furthermore, the bombs were all inside rucksacks or backpacks, as opposed to the "martyr's belt" which is normally strapped to the bomber's body. Putting the bomb inside a rucksack/backpack indicates the person was carrying the bomb but didn't want it attached to their person so they could set it down.

So now the official story is that no timers were recovered. On July 7, 2005 I tuned my computer into listening to the BBC's Live Five radio station so I could keep abreast of what was happening. And I distinctly remember a report that "mechanical timers" had been discovered somewhere in one of the bomb sites. In fact, if my memory serves correctly, the mechanical timers were described as being similar to those used in washing (laundry) machines.

Anyone who has ever used a washing machine knows how it works - you put the clothes in and select a cycle. The washing machine uses a timing device to determine how long to let the water run, how long to agitate (swish) the clothes, etc. Most older washing machines use mechanical timers while the latest models use electronic ones. Absolutely anyone can order or buy a mechanical washing machine timer and they are mass-produced and relatively cheap.

A Google search of news stories show a lot of article that appeared within 48 hours of the blasts listing that mechanical timers had been discovered. Most of those articles seemed to have disappeared but I found a Newsday (via Arizona Republic) article from July 8:

In what appears to be the first major break in the investigation of the attacks, U.S. authorities said British police had recovered two unexploded bombs in London.

In addition, British investigators say parts of timing devices had been recovered from several of the blast sites. American sources indicated that the subway bombs were detonated by mechanical timers and that the bus blast was caused by a suicide bomber. The unexploded devices and timing mechanisms should provide important evidence that could help determine who was behind the attacks.

And the Guardian, also from July 8:

Police denied that they had recovered any unexploded devices. But a source told The Guardian that three controlled explosions had been carried out on "suspect devices".

Furthermore Vincent Cannistraro, the former head of the CIA's counter-terrorism centre, told The Guardian that "two unexploded bombs" were recovered as well as "mechanical timing devices".

So we've got stories reporting the British police found both unexploded bombs as well as mechanical timing devices and then now both items have completely disappeared from reports.

Then there is a Reuters story which says this:

Police have not yet definitively established that four men who carried bombs on to London's transport network intended to die in last week's blasts, a Scotland Yard spokesman said on Saturday.

"We've never used the phrase 'suicide bombers'. We've always been aware that among the things we need to clarify is the notion these people intended to die as well as letting off a bomb," the spokesman said.

There are oddities and inconsistencies about the explosives used and where they were manufactured too. But exactly what explosives were used and what the media reported about them is for Part 4 of this investigation.

In conclusion, two of the bombers were married men, both with young children and both with a pregnant wife. The two single men had good family lives and had lots of friends. All of them were fully "integrated" in British life and were not living an estranged or secluded life.

Hasib Hussain's family was actually prosperous and had done well financially since moving to Britain before Hussain was even born. Siddique Khan was friends with local politicians and had been lauded for his work with children in a major newspaper. Tanweer's father was a former police officer in Britain. Are these the kind of men who would set out to kill themselves in an attack on the very society in which they were integrated?

I've seen the media reports on the "fanatical" aspects of these four men but the evidence seems extremely weak. So three of them had been to Pakistan. So what? I've seen no reports whatsoever showing them doing anything wrong there and they were of Pakistani origin. It makes perfect sense that they might want to visit their homeland. Tanweer went to a religious school in Pakistan for three months but when he came back he said he didn't like it. And as I described in Part 2, there are numerous reports of Siddique Khan having "ties" to all kinds of Pakistanis in Britain arrested for terrorism but he was never arrested himself or put under surveillance.

Furthermore, descriptions of the men seen on the CCTV camera at King's Cross say they looked like "happy hikers", laughing and joking. Surely a suicide mission would've been a serious, serene event in which they were giving their lives for a "greater" cause, not a lighthearted activity.

Clearly the investigation is not finished but the door is open to exactly what really happened that day and who was involved.