Bomb suspects on MI5 files
Philip Johnston, Richard Edwards and Duncan Gardham – The Telegraph.co.uk July 4, 2007
Several doctors arrested over the London and Glasgow car bomb plot were on the files of MI5, it was disclosed last night.
At least one was on a Home Office watch list after being identified by security services - meaning their travel in and out of Britain was monitored by immigration officers.
Others were found to be on the MI5 database, which contains an estimated 2,000 suspected jihadists or supporters of terrorism.
Whitehall sources said they had not been involved in previous plots, but were "people who knew people'' who were under observation.
The fact that they were "on the radar" was one reason why the investigation has moved so fast since the failed plot was sprung last Friday morning.
Seven NHS doctors have been arrested over the latest alleged conspiracy, most of them originating from the Middle East.
The investigation spans the world, with an eighth suspect arrested in Australia.
After a frantic four days of investigation and with Britain in the midst of a major security operation, police are confident that they have all the "major suspects" in custody. The arrest of an Indian doctor at Brisbane airport on Monday was described as a "watershed" in the inquiry.
Scotland Yard asked their Australian counterparts to swoop on Dr Mohammed Haneef, 27. He was at the airport with a one-way ticket to India, having not told his employers or his landlord of any plans to leave.
The international nature of the alleged conspiracy and the fact that the suspects being held worked as doctors has surprised investigators.
American intelligence sources suggested yesterday that some cell members were recruited by al-Qa'eda in Iraq up to three years ago. Abu Hamza al-Muhajir, an insurgency leader, was said to have been ordered to find young men to blend into Western society before staging an attack, said the CBS television network in America.
But British security sources insisted there was no intelligence that al-Qa'eda commanders plotted to infiltrate the NHS.
Most of the alleged cell members arrived in this country after 2004 to take up NHS jobs. It is believed they were recruited in Britain. Whitehall sources said that, as yet, there was no sign of any orders, instructions or training from al-Qa'eda based in Pakistan.
There has also been none of the tell-tale ''chatter'' on jihadi websites that usually follows such attacks.
It is possible that this is because the attacks failed and Islamist groups are reluctant to be seen endorsing them.
The suspect on the Home Office watch list would have been automatically monitored by immigration staff when he entered and left the country, though not necessarily stopped. His name was added to the list on the basis of information provided by MI5 or MI6.
The suspect being treated for 90 per cent burns after driving a blazing Jeep into Glasgow airport's main terminal was named as Khalid Ahmed, 27.
He is another NHS doctor, working as a locum at the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Paisley where he is now being treated, but with slim chances of survival. It is believed that he trained in Bratislava, Slovakia.
Senior police officers believe they have put together the "pieces in the puzzle" of the immediate investigation into what happened. They are working on the basis that the Glasgow and London attacks were carried out by the same two men - Dr Ahmed and Bilal Abdulla, a 27-year-old Iraqi doctor.
Two Mercedes cars parked near Tiger Tiger nightclub in the West End of London during Thursday night were primed to explode, causing massive loss of life.
They were designed to be detonated by a mobile phone calls, but the triggers terrorists attempts to do so failed.
The mobiles were recovered by police and provided crucial clues to track the alleged suspects and their accomplices.
Having retraced their steps, police believe the pair travelled back to Scotland by public transport on Friday and Bilal Abdulla, a 27-year-old Iraqi doctor.
Two Mercedes cars parked near Tiger Tiger nightclub in the West End of London during Thursday night were primed to explode, causing massive loss of life.
They were designed to be detonated by a mobile phone calls, but the triggers terrorists attempts to do so failed. The mobiles were recovered by police and provided crucial clues to track the alleged suspects and their accomplices. Having retraced their steps, police believe the pair travelled back to Scotland by public transport on Friday and launched the attempted suicide attack on Glasgow airport the next day knowing they were being trailed by detectives.
Evidence also emerged that one suspect went to the airport by taxi on June 13 — two weeks before the attack. Yesterday bomb disposal experts carried out a series of controlled explosions on a car thought to belong to one of the men and parked outside a nearby mosque.
Intensive searches were continuing at an address in Staffordshire. It is a mile from the house of Dr Mohammed Asha, the alleged ringleader. The Metropolitan Police Counter Terrorism Command took overall charge of operations yesterday and chief constables from all forces attended a briefing at Scotland Yard.
The heightened alert continued to be felt across Britain. More than 100 BA flights were cancelled after a suspect package shut Heathrow’s Terminal 4 at lunchtime. Two people were arrested in Blackburn under the Terrorism Act after members of the public reported them for buying several gas canisters.
This case was not being linked to the car bombing plot. Sources suggest that two of those detained in the London-Glasgow inquiry may be released without charge and “one or two loose ends” remain.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/07/03/nterror104.xml
Also see:
British MI5 Had Hand In Previous Car Bombings
http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/june2007/290607carbombings.htm
Last updated 05/07/2007