London police warn of threat to financial district

? The police chief for London’s financial district warned Wednesday that terrorists will likely strike the British capital’s biggest business hub, where they have already surveyed targets in the area.

The warning came as police said they have charged another man under anti-terror laws in the botched bombings against London’s transit system on July 21.

Abdul Sharif, 28, of South London, was charged with withholding information that could have helped police apprehend bombing suspect Osman Hussain. Sharif has been in custody since his arrest Aug. 1

Hussain, also known as Hamdi Issac, fled Britain after the failed bomb attacks and is being held in Rome on international terrorism charges. Britain wants to extradite him from Italy.

Nearly five weeks after four suicide bombers attacked London on July 7, killing themselves and 52 other people, police chief James Hart said there was no specific intelligence about a forthcoming attack but insisted the financial district was at risk.

“We are vulnerable; there are people out there who wish us harm and we should be aware of that,” Hart told The Associated Press. “If you hit the financial center of the United Kingdom, it’s a high-profile thing to do.”

Asked whether it was a question of when the financial district would be struck, rather than if, Hart replied: “Yes, I don’t doubt that at all.”