British Police Arrest 5 in the Hunt for Suspects in Attempted Attacks

Jul 02, 07:17 AM

Current Headlines: By ROB HARRIS

By Rob Harris

The Associated Press

GLASGOW, Scotland

BRITISH OFFICIALS intensified the hunt Sunday for what they called an al-Qaida-linked network behind three attempted terrorist attacks, announcing a fifth arrest and conducting pinpoint raids across a country on its highest level of alert.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown said, "It is clear that we are dealing, in general terms, with people who are associated with al- Qaida." He warned Britons that the threat would be "long-term and sustained" but said the country would not be cowed by the plot targeting London and Glasgow's airport.

"We will not yield, we will not be intimidated, and we will not allow anyone to undermine our British way of life," he said in a nationally televised interview.

A British government security official said a loose countrywide network appeared to be behind the attacks but that investigators were struggling to pin down suspects' identities - even two arrested after they drove a Jeep Cherokee into Glasgow's main airport terminal Saturday and set it ablaze.

"These are not the type of people who always carry identity documents, or who use their real identities," the official said on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the inquiries.

L ate Saturday in Liverpool, police arrested a 26-year-old man and then searched two homes. Officers also searched a residential area about a mile from Glasgow's airport. Neighbors of homes being raided said the residents were doctors or medical students.

Britain's Sky News and The Sun, Daily Express and Daily Telegraph newspapers reported that two of the men arrested were hospital doctors. Police refused to comment on the claim.

Two men rammed the Jeep into the airport entrance, shattering the glass doors and igniting a raging fire. One of the suspects, his body in flames after the attack, was taken to the nearby Royal Alexandra Hospital , where police on Sunday carried out a controlled explosion on a vehicle they said also could be linked to the plot.

On Friday, authorities thwarted coordinated bomb attacks in central London .

"We are learning a great deal about the people involved in the attacks here in Glasgow and in the attempted attacks in central London. The links between them are becoming ever clearer," said Peter Clarke, head of Scotland Yard's counterterrorist unit .

Clarke said forensic examinations of all three vehicles in the latest attempted attacks were producing valuable information and that officers were reviewing thousands of hours of closed-circuit television footage from central London.

Brown's government may suggest new anti-terrorism measures today to defend the U.K. following the incidents. Home Secretary Jacqui Smith will make a statement at 3:30 p.m. in the House of Commons .

The attacks return terrorism legislation to the forefront of the government's agenda less than a week after Brown succeeded Tony Blair as prime minister. The Home Office already is considering whether to extend the 28 days police can hold terrorism suspects without charge, a measure civil liberties groups and opposition lawmakers have criticized.

Britain raised its terror alert to critical - the highest level. U.S. Homeland Security chief Michael Chertoff said air marshals would be added to overseas flights while airports and mass transit systems would tighten security ahead of the July 4 celebrations.

President Bush said Sunday that he appreciates Britain's "strong response" to the threats.

"It just goes to show the war against these extremists goes on," Bush said . "You never know where they may try to strike, and I appreciate the very strong response that the Gordon Brown government's given to the attempts by these people."

A U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity while the investigations were ongoing, said U.S. authorities are running the names of the suspects in Britain through their databases to look for links to the United States.

Those checks would include watch lists such as the no-fly list, any clue that the suspects had shared an address with people in the United States, intelligence indicating that the suspects made calls into the United States, and other similar types of investigative work.

Most vehicles were being banned from driving into airports in Britain and air passengers told to use public transport, airline operator BAA PLC said. Random searches were being carried out on vehicles approaching railway stations, British Transport Police said.

Heathrow Airport 's terminal 3 was briefly closed Sunday night after a suspicious package was found, but it was reopened once police confirmed the item was safe, authorities said.

Late Saturday, police arrested two people - a 26-year-old man and a 27-year-old woman - on a highway in Cheshire , northern England, London's Scotland Yard said. On Sunday, Staffordshire police said they also searched at least one home in nearby Newcastle-Under-Lyme .

Vigilance was already heightened ahead of the anniversary of Britain's first suicide attacks, the July 7, 2005 , London transit bombings in which four British-bred Muslims killed themselves and 52 commuters on three subway trains and a bus.

Glasgow's Assistant Chief Constable John Malcolm identified the car used in the airport attack as a green Jeep Cherokee with the license plate L808RDT and asked whether anyone had seen it in recent days. He also appealed for any personal photographs or videos of the attack .

He said the man hospitalized was the driver and identified the other man as a 27-year-old. He declined to provide other details.

Glasgow airport reopened Sunday, although some flights were canceled. Cars were not allowed to drive up to the terminal building, and a tow truck arrived to remove the crashed Jeep.

Bloomberg News contributed to this report.

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