By Matthew Moore, Duncan Gardham, Auslan Cramb and Richard Edwards
Police have arrested two men in Blackburn after reports that gas canisters were delivered to an industrial unit in the town this morning.
The men - described as Asian-looking and in their 30s or 40s - were detained under the Terrorism Act at Furthergate Industrial Estate in Lancashire.
Undercover police swooped after they took delivery of two loads of large gas canisters this morning.
It is not known what the premises - which look in a poor state of repair - were used for. Police said it was too early to say whether there was any connection between the arrests and the recent terror attacks in Glasgow and London, which involved vehicles loaded with gas canisters and nails. The arrests came after a dramatic 24 hours in the investigation into the al-Qa'eda plots. It is now known that:
- The three people arrested in Scotland over the recent attacks have been transferred to London to pave the way for a "single prosecution" over the failed attacks in Glasgow and the West End.
- The man who is critically ill after suffering 90 per cent burns in the Glasgow attack is called Dr Khalid Ahmed. He worked as a locum at Royal Alexandra Hospital, where he is now being treated. His chances of survival are said to be slim.
- Six of the seven suspects held by British police are young Middle Eastern men employed at British hospitals.
- An eighth man - Dr Mohamed Haneef - has been arrested in Australia while attempting to board a flight to Asia.
- The departure lounge at Heathrow Terminal Four was evacuated for two hours this afternoon after the discovery of a suspect package. Passengers are now being allowed back in but a BAA spokesman said there would be delays to some flights.
- Controlled explosions have been carried out on a car parked outside a Glasgow mosque and on a suspect package at Hammersmith station in west London.
Fears of 'rising hostility'
A Muslim leader spoke of his fears of a "rising hostility" towards the Asian community in Scotland after the car bomb attack on Glasgow Airport.
Osama Saeed, the Muslim Association of Britain's Scottish spokesman, made the warning as police launched an investigation into an attack on an Asian newsagent's in Glasgow.
A car was rammed into the shop which was then set alight in the early hours of Tuesday morning.
I find that I have zero empathy/sympathy for their plight...
Iraqi doctors in Britain fear bomb plot backlash
By Luke Baker
LONDON, July 3 (Reuters) - Iraqi doctors working in Britain expressed anger on Tuesday that one of their number could be involved in the London and Glasgow bomb plots, saying they feared it could harm their reputation.
More than 1,900 Iraqi-trained doctors are registered with Britain's General Medical Council, working in government hospitals or in private practices across the country.
Some fled Iraq under Saddam Hussein's rule to seek work abroad. Others have arrived since his overthrow in 2003, fleeing the deepening dangers at home despite an awareness that Iraq has a desperate need for doctors in its current crisis.
"I'm really shocked and upset," said Mohammed Hasan al-Memar, a medical student at King's College London who came to Britain from the Iraqi city of Kerbala.
"I know a lot of Iraqi doctors -- there are so many in Britain -- and the sense in the community in general is disappointment and disgust.
"That this extremism can affect people like doctors who have an obligation to treat and help people... it's amazing. And the fact that he is an Iraqi doctor just adds salt to the wound."
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Bomb police probe Dumfries link
Police are investigating a possible sighting in Dumfries of the vehicle used in Saturday’s terror attack on Glasgow Airport.
A Jeep Cherokee, similar to the one rammed into the airport terminal building, was spotted at West Skelston Services in Heathhall, in the town, days before the attack.
A spokesman for Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary said: “Our force received a call from a local security guard who believed he saw a Jeep Cherokee vehicle, similar to the one used in the attack at Glasgow Airport.
“The vehicle was seen to be parked up in Heathhall industrial estate, several days before the Glasgow Airport incident.
“We are presently conducting investigations in this regard and inquiries are still ongoing at this time.”
One of the firms on the estate is understood to be a stockist of gas cylinders.
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The British way
[The Boston Globe is grinding its axe with this editorial...
No surprise there, they are owned by the "The New York Times Company", which also owns the New York Times...
The newspaper that doesn't know how to write a positive story about America and makes sure to reveal America's CIA/Military secrets whenever it can...ed...A.I.]
...
Nonetheless, there are worthwhile lessons to be learned from the British effort. In their effort to deal with terrorism, authorities can work within the law. They do not require unconstrained power.
The threat from suicidal fanatics is dreadful enough without inflating it into an unbounded long war on terrorism. It is a threat to be countered by means of sound intelligence, conventional police work, legal adaptations that do not create a law-free zone, and leadership that distinguishes law-abiding communities from the crazed Islamist ideologues that prey upon them.
Britain is fighting terrorists without branding them unlawful enemy combatants, without torturing them and without frightening the populace with evocations of an apocalyptic war between good and evil.
Security update - UK airports report return to normal
UK airports were largely operating normally today despite heightened security measures following the car-bomb attack at Glasgow airport on Saturday and attempted bombings in London.
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I'm no terror bomb plotter
by Luke Traynor, Liverpool Echo
A FORMER Merseyside doctor questioned by Australian police over the foiled UK terror plot today said he knew nothing.
Dr Mohammed Asif Ali, 26, was released without charge after questioning in connection with attempted attacks on London and Glasgow.
He said he was “extremely tired” after his ordeal and “just wanted to sleep.”
“I'm totally unaware of anything, please leave me alone. I don't know anything.”
It is believed Dr Ali worked in Merseyside with current terror plot suspect Dr Mohammed Haneef, who was arrested at Brisbane airport.
Sources in Australia said the pair were also colleagues at the Royal, but hospital officials have consistently refused to comment.
A third Merseyside doctor, Dr Sabeel Ahmed, 36, is being questioned by British anti-terror experts after being arrested near Lime Street station on Saturday.
Dr Ahmed was primarily based at Warrington hospital, but also conducted a clinic in Halton.
Two houses were today still being searched in south Liverpool as part of the investigation.
Parts of Ramilies Road, in Mossley Hill, were still sealed off by police, who arrived on the scene on Sunday morning.
Neighbours said two men living at the address on Ramilies Road were very different, one friendly, the other “blanking” people walking down the street.
Trevor Gordon, who lives opposite, said: “That house had been empty for years and has only had people living there recently.
“They always kept themselves to themselves, and when we were knocking on doors to get testimonials about our dog, it was the one door we didn’t knock at.”
Neighbours were woken on Sunday morning when armed officers swooped on the south Liverpool house.
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London/Glasgow bomb suspects 'were known to MI5'
It has emerged today that some of the suspects arrested in connection with the failed car bombings in London and Glasgow were know to the security services before the botched attacks.
Unnamed sources say a number of those detained had appeared on an MI5 database.
The intelligence agency had established "linkages" with a number of individuals, although is it unclear how much was known about them.
Meanwhile, one of the doctors arrested in Australia in connection with the bomb plot has been freed, while the police have been given more time to question the other suspect.
His family in India have insisted that he is innocent and was only trying to fly from Australia to Bangalore to see his daughter.
'Terror suspects' lead police to cannabis factory
by Adam Fresco
Two Asian men arrested under the Terrorism Act yesterday after reports that they were taking delivery of ten propane gas canisters were today being questioned about growing cannabis plants.
With the country on its highest alert after the attempted bomb attacks in London and Glasgow a huge police operation was launched when officers were told that the two men could not give “a reasonable explanation” for why they were buying so much gas.
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Brown orders NHS review after failed bomb attacks
by Philippe Naughton
Gordon Brown announced an urgent review of NHS recruitment after news that all eight suspects arrested after failed car bomb attacks in London and Glasgow were either doctors or in related medical jobs.
The issue of terrorism hung heavily over Mr Brown's first appearance at Prime Minister's Questions, robbing it of much of its gladiatorial excitement as both sides cagily played the security card.
Mr Brown said that background checks on skilled migrant workers would be expanded, as would the worldwide “watch list” of potential terrorists to help warn other countries.
He added that there would be an "immediate review" of NHS recruitment after the discovery that a number of doctors had been arrested in connection with the bomb plot. The review would be carried out by Lord West, the former naval chief appointed as Mr Brown's new anti-terrorism minister.
Mr Brown also agreed to look at a request by David Cameron, the Tory leader, for a border police force, and stressed the need for cross-party co-operation on security matters. He confirmed that the Government was still committed to a Privy Council review of the possible use of telephone intercept evidence in terror cases that come to court.
Mr Brown said: “I hope right across the House, as right across the country, there can be unity in our determination to fight terrorism. I want to remind people just how brave and courageous were the explosive experts in London and those who tackled the terrorist activity at Glasgow airport."
He added: “It is vitally important the message is sent out to the rest of the world that we will stand strong, steadfast and united in the face of terror."
The news came as security experts considered relaxing the apparent terrorist threat to the UK from its highest level. On a visit to a housing estate in south-east London, Jacqui Smith, the Home Secretary, said such a move is the responsibility of the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre (JTAC).
She said: “That is something that will be determined on the basis of the intelligence when it is the right time to do, that is obviously the way it should be."
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Pertinent Links:
1) Two men arrested after 'gas canister delivery'
2) Fears of 'rising hostility'
3) Iraqi doctors in Britain fear bomb plot backlash
4) Bomb police probe Dumfries link
5) The British way
6) Security update - UK airports report return to normal
7) I'm no terror bomb plotter
8) London/Glasgow bomb suspects 'were known to MI5'
9) 'Terror suspects' lead police to cannabis factory
10) Brown orders NHS review after failed bomb attacks
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