Police on suspects146; trail before attacks

Police were on the suspects8217; trail minutes before the Glasgow airport attack, a house rental agent said on Monday.

Police were on the suspects8217; trail minutes before the Glasgow airport attack, a house rental agent said on Monday. Meanwhile, British officials arrested two more suspects as they intensified the hunt for what they called an al-Qaeda-linked network behind the three attempted terrorist attacks in recent days. This puts the total number held at seven.

Daniel Gardiner of the Let-It agency in Glasgow said officers had contacted his company after tracking phone records. Police left a card at the home of Gardiner8217;s colleague on Saturday, asking him to get in touch with authorities, he said. 8220;The card was put through prior to the incident at Glasgow Airport,8221; Gardiner said.

Police were interested in the tenant who had taken a six-month lease on a house, Gardiner said. Authorities on Sunday searched a property rented by Gardiner8217;s company in Houston, near Glasgow Airport. Police also interviewed staff at the Let-It office and took away all documentation about the tenant, Gardiner said.

Meanwhile, British officials hunted for more members of a suspected militant cell who rammed a burning jeep into a Scottish airport and tried to detonate two car bombs in central London. The two men arrested today, aged 25 and 28, were not believed to be of Scottish origin and were detained as a result of an 8220;intensive police operation8221; in the Paisley area, west of Glasgow.

Cars and other vehicles were banned from directly approaching airports and security measures stepped up across the country as authorities set the threat level at 8220;critical8221;, meaning the possibility of an attack is 8220;imminent8221;.

Ministers said 8220;good progress8221; was being made in the probe and police sources said a manhunt was underway for an unspecified number of suspects after five people welre arrested over the weekend. All five were thought to be foreigners and were arrested under anti-terrorism laws.

Police declined to identify any of those under arrest, but officials said doctors from Iraq and Jordan are among the seven held. Newspapers said an Iranian doctor, who worked at North Staffordshire Hospital in central England, is among those arrested.

Story continues below this ad

BBC and Britain8217;s Sky News said one of two arrested for the failed attack on Glasgow is an Iraqi doctor. The reports identified the man as Bilal Abdulla. According to the British General Medical Council8217;s register, a man named Bilal Talal Abdul Samad Abdulla was registered in 2004 and trained in Baghdad.

Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said Britain was facing a 8220;serious and sustained threat of terrorism8221; and urged the public to remain on alert. 8220;We are not going to let this terrorism intimidate us,8221; she said. 8220;But obviously, we need the increased security measures that are in place and we need the public to carry on being as vigilant as possible.8221;