By Prasun Sonwalkar, IANS
London : British police officers expressed confidence Thursday they have all the "major suspects" in last week's failed terror attacks – although not all the eight detainees are expected to be charged – as Britain lowered its threat level from 'critical' to 'severe'.
The police and the General Medical Council have been checking the suspects' identities and whether their qualifications were valid. New checks have been announced on foreign doctors and health professionals who seek employment in the National Health Service (NHS).
It was earlier reported that all the eight people being held for the attempted car bombs in London and Glasgow on June 29 and 30 are associated with the NHS, as doctors, health professionals or students.
However, it has now emerged that Kafeel Ahmed, the badly injured driver of the car that drove into the Glasgow airport, may have been a student of design and technology. There are also reports that Kafeel is the brother of Indian doctor Sabeel Ahmed, who was arrested in Liverpool Saturday, but there is no confirmation of this.
The other confirmed Indian national arrested is Mohammad Haneef, who was arrested in Brisbane.
Announcing the lowering of the threat level, Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said there was "no intelligence" to suggest another terrorist attack was imminent. She underlined that the review did not mean the overall threat had disappeared and urged the public to remain vigilant.
She said in a statement: "Today (Wednesday) the Joint Terrorism and Analysis Centre (JTAC) changed the national threat level from critical to severe. There is no intelligence to suggest that an attack is expected imminently.
"The decision to change the threat level is made by JTAC based on the very latest intelligence, considering factors such as capability, intent and timescale. As I said on Saturday, the threat level is kept under constant review."
In the House of Commons, Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced that security checks on skilled migrants such as NHS workers would be stepped up in the wake of the car bomb plots.
Brown pledged that the government would expand its worldwide "watch list" of potential terrorists. Details of stricter background checks on foreign doctors were announced but Brown said that the new security minister, Lord West, would carry out an immediate review of NHS recruitment.
Latest reports say that two of the men arrested had links to a hospital in Cambridge.
Mohammed Asha, 26, who was arrested with his wife, worked on placement at Addenbrooke's Hospital in the city.
The second suspect, Bilal Abdullah, who has been named as one of two men who drove a flaming Jeep loaded with gas canisters into the arrivals hall at Glasgow Airport, also lived in the city and worked at the hospital on placement.
Abdullah, who trained as a doctor in Iraq, stayed in Cambridge for short periods in 2001 and 2004. Electoral records show that he stayed at the home of a kebab shop owner, according to The Times.
A neighbour told the paper that the family were hardline Muslims who worshipped in a prayer room above the shop rather than the local mosque. In 2001, when Abdullah first lived in the city, he rented a room in a house owned by the Cambridge Muslim Welfare Society, a community group operating out of a local mosque.
Addenbrooke's Hospital said it would make no comment on reports that the two doctors had been employed at the hospital. It issued a statement saying it would co-operate with investigators
A hospital spokeswoman said: "This matter of national security is under police investigation. As such we are not in a position to comment".
The eight suspects in the attempted car bombs are:
1. Iraqi doctor Bilal Talal Samad Abdullah was arrested at Glasgow Airport Saturday following the failed car bombing. He works at the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Paisley as a diabetes specialist.
2. Mohammad Asha, a doctor, 26, who lives in Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire. He was arrested on the M6 motorway in Cheshire Saturday night. Asha is of Palestinian descent but grew up in Jordan.
3. Marwah Dana Asha, the 27-year-old wife of Mohammed Asha, a fellow Palestinian who trained as a laboratory researcher.
4. Mohammad Haneef, 27, is an Indian citizen who was detained at the Brisbane Airport while trying to board a plane to India with a one-way ticket. Haneef studied medicine at the Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences in Bangalore from 1997-2002, achieving a second-class degree.
5. Sabeel Ahmed, 26, a doctor currently working at the Warrington Hospital in Liverpool. He was arrested near Liverpool's Lime Street station Saturday night. He is from Bangalore and trained as a doctor at the city's Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences.
6. Kafeel Ahmed is the second man arrested at the Glasgow Airport Saturday with 90 percent burns due to the car blaze. According to the BBC, he is the brother of Sabeel Ahmed. Some reports say that Kafeel is also a doctor but is not listed in the General Medical Council's register, while others say that he is a student of design and technology.
7. A 28-year-old unnamed man was arrested in Paisley Sunday. Several media reports say that he is a medical student working at the Royal Alexandra Hospital but officials have not confirmed this.
8. A 25-year-old man was also arrested in Paisley Sunday. There are unconfirmed media reports that he too is a medical student at the same hospital.