UK Police given more time to quiz bomb suspect

London, July 15: Police in Britain have been given more time to question one of four suspects still being held in connection with failed car bomb attacks in London and Glasgow.

Police charged a further two men, one of them in Britain and one in Australia, over the terrorist plots over the weekend, bringing the number formally accused to three.

A warrant of further detention has been granted for Mohammed Asha, 26, who was arrested by counter-terrorism officers on the M6 motorway in northern England on June 30, London's Metropolitan Police said late yesterday.

His wife, Dana Asha - the only woman among those detained in the case - was arrested alongside him but was released without charge on Thursday.

The warrant of further detention will expire in the afternoon of July 21.

Another two men, aged 27 and 24, remain in custody at a central London police station over the failed attacks.

A fourth man, Indian engineer Kafeel Ahmed, 27, is under police guard in hospital after being badly burned when a jeep was driven into an airport terminal building in Glasgow, Scotland, and set ablaze on June 30.

That attack came 36 hours after the discovery of two cars packed with fuel, gas tanks and nails primed to explode in central London.

Police think the two incidents were linked.

All but one of the eight original suspects are medics from the West Asia or India.

British police yesterday charged Kafeel's brother, Sabeel Ahmed, 26, of Liverpool, with failing to disclose information that could have prevented an act of terrorism on Saturday.

Earlier the same day, Australian Federal Police charged 27-year-old Mohamed Haneef, Sabeel's second cousin, with providing support to a terrorist organisation.

Iraqi-trained doctor Bilal Abdulla, 27, was charged in Britain last week with conspiring to cause explosions.

British police can hold terrorism suspects up to 28 days without charge, but must periodically seek the permission of a judge to continue questioning them.

REUTERS

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