UNITED KINGDOM: Police carry out controlled explosion on a car at a mosque in Glasgow

Record ID: 351873

  • Title: UNITED KINGDOM: Police carry out controlled explosion on a car at a mosque in Glasgow
  • Date: 3rd July 2007
  • Summary: (W2) LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (JULY 3, 2007) (REUTERS) PEOPLE WALKING IN FRONT OF ENTRANCE TO WATERLOO STATION IN CENTRAL LONDON PEOPLE WALKING INSIDE THE STATION MAN ARRANGING NEWSPAPERS IN SHOP INSIDE STATION
  • Embargoed: 18th July 2007 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: United Kingdom
  • Country: United Kingdom
  • Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement
  • Reuters ID: LVA88W8U9E6JOIWLXPOUIDVBESC4
  • Story Text: British police removed a car from a mosque car park in Glasgow early on Tuesday (July 3) and later carried out a controlled explosion on the vehicle.
    They said the car was linked to the investigation into a suspected al Qaeda plot to detonate car bombs in London and Scotland, but stressed it had not contained explosives and had been destroyed as a precaution.
    They also stressed the mosque itself at which the car had been found -- the Forth Street mosque in the largely Asian Pollokshields area of Glasgow -- had not been linked to the plan to detonate two car bombs in London and attack Scotland's Glasgow airport using a fuel-laden vehicle.
    Superintendent Stewart Daniels of Strathclyde police was in charge of the mosque incident operation.
    "I think it's important to stress this time that there's absolutely nothing to connect the mosque with the ongoing incidents in London and Glasgow. Because of the nature of the inquiry today, we've been working closely with our colleague in the EOD which in common language is the bomb disposal squad," Daniels said.
    Police cordoned off streets around the Forth Street mosque in the early hours of Tuesday, before carrying out controlled explosions on the suspect car.
    Other British police officers were questioning eight people on Tuesday -- at least three of whom are doctors -- in connection with the suspected al-Qaeda bombing plot.
    Australian police also detained an Indian national working as a hospital registrar in Brisbane, widening the investigation further.
    The BBC and other media reported that as many as three more of those detained were medical students or had connections to hospitals in Britain, but police could not confirm this.
    Fearing further attacks, police have banned cars and other vehicles from directly approaching airports, and security measures have been stepped up across the country. Authorities say the threat level is "critical", the highest rating.
    One London resident said it was important not to let the increased security threat effect day-to-day life.
    "I think it's like anything, you know, we just have to carry on and just go to work as you normally would do, and just not get beaten by this that's going on" said Gary Mann, who works as a health and safety advisor.
    Britain has seen a marked increase in terrorism-related attacks since the Sept. 11 strikes on the United States and its decision to join U.S. forces in invading Iraq in 2003.
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