British police have arrested two more men in connection with attempted car bombings in central London and Glasgow Scotland. The manhunt continues for additional suspects. VOA's Sonja Pace reports from the British capital.
Police arrested the two men, said to be in their 20s, near Glasgow. Four others are already in custody and one suspect remains in a local hospital near Glasgow with severe burns on his body.
[Australian authorities say an eighth suspect wanted in connection with the case has been arrested in the Australian city of Brisbane. Officials say the 27-year-old man was detained at Brisbane airport as he tried to leave Australia.]
Early Friday police found two abandoned cars in London, filled with gas canisters, gasoline and nails. They say had the explosives been detonated, hundreds of people might have been killed.
A day later, two men tried to ram their burning sport utility vehicle into the entrance of the Glasgow airport terminal. The two men were subdued and taken away - one to jail and one to a local hospital.
British Home Secretary Jacqui Smith told members of the House of Commons Monday about additional security measures being taken.
"The police have substantially stepped up protective security measures, including high visibility patrols, including armed response vehicles, the increased use of stop and search powers for vehicles and pedestrians, an increased physical protection around airport terminal buildings, including tighter control on access roads and installation of new barriers," said Smith.
The terrorism alert level remains at its highest stage of critical.
British media reports quote police sources as saying one of the men apprehended at Glasgow airport is Bilal Abdullah, an Iraqi-trained medical doctor.
Another man, detained with his wife on a motorway near the city of Liverpool, is being named as Mohammed Asha and described as a physician, trained in Jordan. Both are said to be registered as medical practitioners in Britain.
Police believe they are dealing with a terrorist cell either linked to or inspired by al Qaida.
"Let us be clear, terrorists are criminals whose victims come from all walks of life, communities and religious backgrounds," said Home Secretary Smith. "Terrorists attack the values shared by all law-abiding citizens. As a government, as communities as individuals we need to ensure that the message of the terrorists is rejected."
This coming Saturday, Britain marks the second anniversary of the July 7 bombings, in which four Muslim suicide bombers set off explosions on London's transport system that killed 52 bus and subway passengers.
