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Police chief 'concerned' over leak

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LONDON, England (CNN) -- Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Ian Blair has expressed concern about the leak of photographs showing key evidence in the London bomb investigations.

America's ABC News published photos showing unexploded devices found in the trunk of car at Luton train station in north London.

One of the photographs -- an X-ray image -- seemed to show nails attached to the outside of a glass bottle packed with explosives.

The network also showed images of the wreckage of bombed Tube trains in the aftermath of the July 7 attacks.

"I am concerned that some of the photos were supplied in confidence to some of our colleague agencies in the U.S. and were published there and subsequently around the world," Blair said.

He was speaking to reporters after the arrest of nine men in raids on two houses in south London on Thursday. (Full story)

The images were spread across many front pages in the London press and television networks in the UK on Thursday.

One newspaper speculated that the apparent nail bomb may have been planned to be used in an attack on a nightclub or sporting match.

Blair urged British media outlets to exercise caution in its use of the images and other reporting of the investigation into the attacks -- and the failed attacks of July 21.

In the U.S., leading Congressman Pete Hoekstra said the leak could affect the relationship between intelligence agencies in Britain and the U.S.

Hoekstra, chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, said: "We work on this stuff hand in hand and we can't be looking over each other's shoulder wondering who is leaking whose information.

"It's impossible to know how tight police are being with the details in London but if the investigation is put in jeopardy, that would be a tragedy."

Police were earlier refusing to comment on the photos, but two sources familiar with the investigation confirmed to CNN that more than a dozen unexploded bombs were found in a car at Luton station five days after the deadly attacks on three trains and a bus.

The vehicle was discovered in a parking lot at Luton station on July 12 and the bombs were detonated in a controlled explosion.

Police had closed the train station and the parking lot and cordoned off a 100-yard area around it before investigating the vehicle.

Initially, police said only that the car was believed to be linked to the July 7 bombings which killed 52 commuters plus the four suicide bombers.

A closed-circuit television camera captured the four suspected suicide bombers carrying rucksacks at Luton station at approximately 7:20 a.m. on the day of the bombings.

At 8:50 a.m., bombs detonated within 50 seconds of each other on three London Underground trains, and a bus bombing followed about an hour later.

Police on Wednesday arrested one of the four men they believe to be responsible for last week's attempted bombings of London's mass transit system, an official with knowledge of the investigation told CNN. (Full story)

The official identified Yasin Hassan Omar, a 24-year-old Somali with British residency, as one of four men arrested early Wednesday in Birmingham, about 100 miles north of London.

Police allege Omar, 24, was the would-be bomber of the city's Warren Street Underground station.

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