Tuesday, July 3, 2007

London Cleanskin Suspects Connected to NHS

Via BBC News -

Eight people arrested in connection with failed car bombings in Glasgow and London all have links with the National Health Service, the BBC has learned.

Seven are believed to be doctors or medical students, while one formerly worked as a laboratory technician.

A suspect in hospital after the Glasgow attack has been named as Khalid Ahmed, who is believed to be a doctor.

A man arrested in Liverpool on Sunday has been named as Sabeel Ahmed, 26, who trained as a doctor.

Two men have been arrested in Blackburn under terror laws but police have not confirmed a link with the car bombs.

The pair were detained on an industrial estate and are being held at a police station in Lancashire on suspicion of offences under the Terrorism Act 2000.

...

Australian media have identified a man arrested at Brisbane Airport as Dr Mohammed Haneef, 27, who has worked at Halton Hospital in Runcorn, Cheshire. He was detained while trying to board a plane to India.

He and a second doctor being interviewed in Australia worked at locations including the Gold Coast Hospital in Southport, eastern Queensland, and they were both previously based in Liverpool.

Marwah Dana Asha, 27, who was arrested on the M6, is thought to have worked as a lab technician at an NHS hospital in Shrewsbury.

She was arrested with her husband, Dr Mohammed Asha, 26, who worked at North Staffordshire NHS Trust's University Hospital.

...

Iraqi doctor Bilal Abdullah, arrested at Glasgow Airport on Saturday, and two men, aged 28 and 25, arrested at accommodation at the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Paisley on Monday have been handed over to the Metropolitan Police. Dr Abdullah was employed as a locum at the hospital.

Khalid Ahmed, detained at Glasgow Airport along with Dr Abdullah, suffered severe burns and remains in a critical condition under armed police guard at the Royal Alexandra.

The man arrested in the Lime Street area of Liverpool trained as a doctor at the Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences in Bangalore, India, the same place as Dr Haneef.

Six of the eight people arrested are now being held at London's Paddington Green police station.

Sian Thomas, deputy director of NHS Employers, said she wanted to reassure the public there were "thorough and robust checks" in place before doctors were employed by NHS trusts
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It is clear from the quick action of the UK Government that a huge amount of information was pulled from the recent bombing attacks. The bombs that failed to dentate most likely provided phone numbers, fingerprints and other critical intelligence. Suspects were arrested and interviewed - providing even more information.

The UK Government was quick to act on this intelligence and grab anyone that might have credible information - as they should. A huge net was thrown and eight people have been arrested within days. Hopefully providing information needed to stop other attacks that might be in the pipes.

Personally, I would be surprised if all eight of these individuals were directly involved in the planning of the recent attacks. Perhaps they did have connections with those directly involved since most worked in the NHS in some fashion. But its still too early to tell...

Regardless, kudos to the UK Government for their quick actions to protect their citizens.

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