World leaders stand by Londoners

Tetchy relations with France were put to one side, traditional allies such as the United States, Australia and Ireland rallied behind Londoners, and the European Commission vowed to press for anti-terrorism measures across the bloc.

"This second attack unfortunately confirms that terrorism constitutes a permanent threat from which nobody is safe," the European Commission said in a statement.

The European Union had a strategy to fight terrorism, it said.

"We need to implement this without any delay."

The United States expressed "shock, outrage, horror at yet another senseless and evil act.

US Secretary of State Condole-ezza Rice, speaking in Israel ahead of talks on the Middle East conflict, said she was confident that Londoners would react to the latest incidents with the same resilience they had shown two weeks ago.

"We just live in a world where, sadly, these kinds of security measures are necessary," New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said in announcing the new police searches of subway passengers' backpacks and packages.

At the White House, spokesman Scott McClellan said US President George W. Bush has been kept closely informed about the new bomb attacks. "We are monitoring the situation closely," he said

French President Jacques Chirac, who had swept aside Franco-British squabbles over the future of the European Union to support Blair after the deadly July 7 attacks on London, reiterated France's solidarity with Britain.

"I wish to express to the British people and to Prime Minister Tony Blair the solidarity and support of France, and I want to reiterate our determination to fight terrorism together," he said during an official visit in the Madagascan capital Antananarivo.

King Mohammed VI of Morocco, whose country was hit by deadly urban bomb blasts two years ago, said the latest attacks were "criminal, cowardly acts that go against the noble religious ideals of peace, tolerance, living together and the sanctity of the right to life."

Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul of Turkey, whose country has also been targeted in bomb attacks, said "we condemn terrorism wherever it strikes and whatever its goals are."

And Australian Prime Minister John Howard, who was lunching with British Prime Minister Tony Blair during an official visit to London when the news broke, said his country would stand steadfast with Britain.

"Canadians stand united with the British people and people around the world in denouncing all acts of violence and terrorism," said Anne McLellan, Canada's deputy prime minister and minister of public safety and emergency preparedness.