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July 11, 2005
Mother makes plea for missing son
The mother of a man missing since Thursday's London bombings has condemned the attackers.
Anthony Fatayi-William's mother, Marie, said: "I am his mother. I need to know what happened to Anthony."
She said it was time to stop "this vicious cycle of killing". "How many mothers' hearts shall be maimed?"
It is thought he took the Number 30 bus after stopping to help Tube passengers. The bus was blown up in Tavistock Square.
'Hopes and dreams'
Surrounded by family and friends of her son at the scene of the bus bombing, Mrs Fatayi-William said: "Five days on and we are waiting to know what has happened to him."
"My son Anthony is my first son, my only son, 26, the head of my family.
"African society, they hold on to sons. He has dreams and hopes and I his mother must fight to protect them".
"I want to protect him, I am his mother. I want to protect him, his values, his memory."
She said anyone who believed they were acting in the name of God or Allah by committing such atrocities had been misled.
"Terrorism is not the way. We cannot deliver peace by killing people," she said.
'Rivers of blood'
Mrs Fatayi-William, who has flown to the UK from Nigeria, continued: "It is time to stop and think because we cannot live in fear because we are surrounded by hatred".
She condemned "death by faceless people" and said there had been "streams of tears, rivers of blood."
She provided a stark contrast with the perpetrators of the bombings and Nelson Mandela who offered inspiration to many.
"What inspiration does senseless slaughter provide?" she said.
Her son, an oil executive, was on his way to work at Amec Offshore Services, near Liverpool Street station, but is thought to have taken an alternative route to work, via King's Cross, because of delays on the Northern Line.
The family believe witnesses later saw Anthony in Euston amid the confusion following the Tube attacks, helping passengers find buses.
His mobile phone records show he contacted his employer at 9.41am on the morning of the terror attack to tell them he would not get to work by Tube but would find another way.
The bus bomb exploded at 0947 BST.
His best friend Amrit Walia had contacted the BBC News website after he went missing following Thursday's bombings.
Posted by Publisher at July 11, 2005 01:34 PM
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