Doc in plot tied to al Qaeda

Observer/Guardian:

A terror suspect involved in bomb attacks on London and Glasgow was a known associate of a senior al-Qaeda figure caught plotting to blow up passenger jets four years ago.

Kafeel Ahmed, an Indian doctor, knew one of the terror group's most high-profile bomb makers in Europe, according to senior security sources.

Ahmed, 27, who remains critically ill in hospital after the failed car bomb attack last weekend on Glasgow Airport, was involved with convicted terrorist Abbas Boutrab when he was planning to target airliners.

He met Boutrab in Belfast while studying for a master's degree in aeronautical engineering at Queen's University between 2001 and 2004. The disclosure will raise fresh questions over the extent of information held by MI5 on suspects involved in the attempted car bomb attacks on London and Glasgow.

Boutrab was arrested in Belfast during 2003 and convicted two years later for downloading information on how to blow up an airliner.

Security and sources within Ireland's Islamic community allege both men may have belonged to the same al-Qaeda unit which viewed Ireland as a 'quiet base'.

A senior detective in Belfast told The Observer: 'Boutrab headed up the cell that operated on the quiet both in Northern Ireland and the Republic. That cell included Kafeel Ahmed while he was a student at Queen's.'

During Boutrab's trial in 2005 an FBI agent said computer disks owned by the 29-year-old contained instructions for a device that could be easily smuggled aboard a plane and could cause a mid-air explosion.

This week the government will unveil its latest defence against a terror attack by announcing the 'operational' deployment of Typhoon jet fighters with a key responsibility to protect London from a 9/11-style attack. A defence source said the warplanes, based at RAF Coningsby in Lincolnshire, would be detailed to intercept hijacked aircraft intent on emulating the 2001 New York attacks.

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This information has to raise questions about the vetting process in hiring this man. More needs to be found about his associates, particular those in India which has also been a target of al Qaeda. The case they mention sounds like the one where ordinary chemicals would be brought on a plane and mixed into an explosive cocktail. a similar threat in the last year led to significant restrictions on carry ons including water bottles.