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Airport bomber left “suicide” note

Hasan Suroor

LONDON: One of the two men alleged to be behind the attack on the Glasgow airport reportedly left a suicide note explaining his and his fellow bomber’s motives.

The men, who drove a flaming jeep into the airport terminal last Saturday, “intended” to blow up the vehicle while they were still inside it, CNN claimed on Thursday.

Police, however, said they could not talk about anything recovered as part of the investigation.

One of the occupants of the jeep has been named as Dr. Bilal Talal Abdullah, a British-born Iraqi doctor. Confusion prevails here over the identity of his accomplice, who was apparently driving the jeep and suffered serious burns. He is in a critical condition in Scotland’s Royal Alexandria Hospital in Paisley, where he is believed to have worked previously.

Media reports here named him as Dr. Khalid Ahmed, and eyewitnesses at the airport described him as “Asian-looking.”

Scotland Yard refused to “discuss” reports that he could be Kafeel Ahmed, mentioned in the Indian media as a “third Karnataka resident,” who could have been possibly involved in the London-Glasgow plot.

A spokesperson dismissed the reports as “speculation.” “We are not prepared to discuss the identity or nationality of anyone detained in connection with the incidents in London and Glasgow,” she said.

Dr. Abdullah, it emerged, was born in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, where his father was a doctor. When he was a child he moved to Iraq with his parents and grew up there, and had returned to Britain recently. As he was born in Britain, he was entitled to a British passport, which he reportedly acquired five years ago.

His friends described him as an admirer of the al-Qaeda. A former friend, Shiraz Maher, told the BBC that Dr. Abdullah “actively cheered the deaths of British and American troops in Iraq,” describing him as just the sort of person who was capable of carrying out a suicide bombing.

Eight nationals of at least three countries — India, Iraq and Jordan — are in custody but none has been charged. They can be held for a maximum of 28 days without being charged.

Police believe they have been able to catch all the “major suspects,” and the investigation is now focussing on analysing the evidence.

The security threat level, which was raised to “critical” after last week’s incidents, has been lowered, and there is thought to be no threat of an imminent attack.

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