UK police 'hunting another car bomb suspect'

Police are said to be hunting for a further suspect today over the failed car bombings in London and Glasgow.

Five people, reportedly including at least one doctor, have already been arrested in connection with the suspected terrorist attacks.

Police have linked an attempt to ram a blazing Jeep Cherokee into Glasgow Airport on Saturday to the discovery of two car bombs in London's West End on Friday.

In response Britain was placed on a “critical” state of terror alert – the highest possible – meaning an attack is believed to be imminent.

New British Home Secretary Jacqui Smith will set out the government’s response to the terrorist threat later today.

Two men inside the Jeep were arrested at the airport, although the driver suffered severe burns after being engulfed in flames and is in a critical condition in hospital.

Later on Saturday night anti-terror officers arrested a 26-year-old man and a 27-year-old woman.

The pair were taken for questioning to a central London police station, believed to be high-security Paddington Green.

The man is an Iranian doctor who works at North Staffordshire Hospital in Stoke-on-Trent, according to The Sun newspaper.

Scotland Yard refused to comment on this or on BBC reports that all those arrested were from the Middle East and that at least one suspect was still on the run.

A spokeswoman for North Staffordshire Hospital also declined to comment, saying: “What you are talking about is a police operation so you need to talk to police.”

The fifth suspect, a 26-year-old man, was arrested at Liverpool’s Lime Street Station overnight on Saturday.

There was further drama yesterday when a controlled explosion was carried out on a car at the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Paisley near Glasgow, where one of the airport suspects is being treated.

The car was believed to be connected to the attack but there was “no indication at this time” that it contained any explosives, Strathclyde Police said.

Police carried out searches yesterday in Newcastle-under-Lyme, north Staffordshire and the village of Houston, near Glasgow Airport.

Neighbours said they believed a detached house searched in Sunningdale Grove, Newcastle-under-Lyme, was rented by a doctor thought to be married with one young child.

Local resident Daniel Robinson said: “It’s fairly disturbing but at the same time I find it very hard to believe, having met the gentleman, that he’s involved in any way in terrorism.”

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said yesterday that the message to the terrorists must be: “We will not yield, we will not be intimidated and we will not allow anyone to undermine our British way of life”.

He said it was “clear” the attacks in London and Glasgow were perpetrated by people who were associated with the global Islamist terror network al-Qaida.

He urged the public to continue “living their lives as normal” and pledged: “Everything is being done in our power… to protect people’s lives.”

Scotland Yard anti-terror chief Deputy Assistant Commissioner Peter Clarke appealed for the public's help with the investigation into the car bomb plot.

He said: “In terms of the wider investigation we are learning a great deal about the people who were involved in the attack here in Glasgow and the attempted attacks in central London. The links between the three attacks are becoming ever clearer.”

Glasgow Airport and Liverpool John Lennon Airport, which was closed on Saturday night while police investigated a suspicious vehicle, both reopened yesterday, although with some delays and cancellations.

The rest of Britain’s airports will stay open until further notice, although police patrols have been stepped up and most are closing off roads leading to the terminal buildings.

The green Jeep, with the registration L808 RDT, was driven into the main doors of Glasgow Airport before bursting into flames at about 3.15pm on Saturday.

The attack followed the discovery of two cars loaded with explosives in London’s busy West End early on Friday morning.

The first, a Mercedes packed with a deadly cargo of petrol, gas canisters and nails, was found by paramedics called to the Tiger Tiger nightclub shortly before 2am after a person was taken ill.

The ambulance crew spotted smoke inside the car and immediately called police.

Sources suggested one of the first officers on the scene averted disaster by disconnecting a mobile phone in the car which may have been used to trigger the explosion.

The second car, also a Mercedes, was issued with a parking ticket in Cockspur Street, just yards from the first vehicle, at about 2.30am.

It was taken to a car pound off Park Lane by Westminster Council at around 3.30am.

Workers at the compound were immediately suspicious of the car because it had a strong smell of petrol. But it was not until later when they heard about the news of the first car bomb they contacted authorities.

US president George Bush yesterday praised Mr Brown’s “strong response” to the terrorist attacks in London and Scotland.

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