Doctor arrested, 2nd questioned in Australia over U.K. terror bids
Eight people have been arrested over string of failed terror attacks in London and Glascow, 3 of them doctors.
By The Associated PressA 27-year-old doctor arrested in Australia over the foiled terror attacks in London and Glasgow is an Indian national, Prime Minister John Howard said Tuesday.
Howard also revealed that a second doctor was being interviewed in relation to information given to counterterror authorities by the first.
"The first person taken into custody is an Indian national who came to Australia sponsored by the Queensland (state) health department," Howard told reporters.
The identity of that second person arose from the discussions that occurred with the first person taken into custody, he added.
Both doctors worked at the Gold Coast Hospital in southeast Queensland and were both recruited from Liverpool, London, officials said.
Police seized the first man, whose name was not immediately released, at the international airport in the eastern city of Brisbane, where he was trying to board a flight with a one-way ticket late Monday, Attorney General Philip Ruddock told reporters in the national capital, Canberra.
No charges have been filed yet. Under federal counterterrorism laws, terror suspects can be held without charge for three days, and for longer periods with court approval.
The man is one of eight people - including at least two other doctors identified by British authorities - arrested over a string of failed terror attacks in Britain. The attack plots include two car bombs that failed to explode in central London on Friday, and two men who rammed a vehicle with gas cylinders into an airport entrance in Glasgow, Scotland, and then set it on fire Saturday.
The suspect arrested in Australia had been working as a medical registrar at the Gold Coast Hospital in eastern Queensland state.
said that police also were interviewing a second doctor in the case, but that authorities are not aware of any specific link between the man and the foiled attacks.
At this point, there is no suggestion in relation to the second doctor, Beattie told reporters in the eastern city of Brisbane. We do not know of any link the second doctor may have had with anyone.
Ruddock would not say what the man's alleged involvement in the British terror plots was, nor whether other people in Australia were under investigation. He also declined to tell reporters where the man had been heading when he was arrested.
The doctor arrested Monday was hired in September 2006 after he answered an advertisement in the British Medical Journal. He was recruited from Liverpool, Britain, but completed his medical internship in India, Beattie said. He is a junior doctor who was supervised by more senior staff, Beattie said.
"The doctor was regarded by the hospital as, in many senses, a model citizen - excellent references and so on," Queensland state leader Peter Beattie said.
Beattie said, to his knowledge, the doctor had not resigned before attempting to leave the country. The second doctor also was recruited from Liverpool, but it was not clear where he completed his studies, Beattie said.
Local media reports said the arrested man was about to board a flight to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, with a view to getting a connecting flight to India, but officials would not confirm the reports.
Police executed a number of search warrants across Queensland state overnight, including at the hospital where the man worked, but there was no sign that Australia was a possible target for attack, Ruddock said.
"While a terrorist attack could certainly be possible in Australia, we have no specific information about any such planned action here, " Ruddock said.
|
The gas cylinders-laden vehicle that rammed into an airport entrance in Glasgow, Scotland. (AP) |
Why Facebook Connect?
Comment on Haaretz.com articles with your Facebook login, and share your thoughts on your own wall.
- Latest
- Most Viewed
- Most Rated
- Open all
Not all Muslims are terrorist .. but lately (last 7+years) ... al terrorist attacks had been performed by Muslims with nobody from a "moderate" Muslim background condemning them.
It is not only British Muslim terrorists that include a large number of doctors; Palestinian and other terrorists also have their large share of physicians. Among the most prominent (or infamous) of these are:1) George Habash, founder of the PFLP, responsible for the murder of 11 Israeli athletes and 35 Israeli schoolchildren. 2) Abd el-Aziz el-Rantisi, co-founder of the Hamas. 3) Bashar el-Assad, president of Syria, co-sponsor of Hezbollah. Why is this so? My guess is that many of the terrorists come come from affluent or middle-class families and are well-educated, thus politically aware. Medicine is one of the most popular and respected professions among Arabs and Muslims seeking to advance their economic and social interests. Thus the large number of medical terrorists. Yasser Arafat was an exception - he was an engineer, double entendre intended.
Who says VIOLENCE against civilians would've never work in history? Do you want a famous example? THE STATE OF ISRAEL. Only because Israel is so strong and so rich right now, it doesn't mean its history is clean from any horrible terrorisms. In fact, IRGUN was the first effective terror organization that had been succeeded for establishing a nation.
Who says VIOLENCE against civilians would've never work in history? Do you want a famous example? THE STATE OF ISRAEL. Only because Israel is so strong and so rich right now, it doesn't mean its history is clean from any horrible terrorisms. In fact, IRGUN was the first effective terror organization that had been succeeded for establishing a nation.
islamist morals..
This 'unbiased' organization, instead of questioning/debating the issue, goes & panders directly to the 'community' that is causing all this! http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6261988.stm
"Deport or imprison every Muslim in the west." #7 WWACD from Haifa There's so many though. So you mean... put them in ghettoes? Then what happens after that?
unlike yourself who screams "DEATH To---". Tell us THE CAUSE "baby". Like why you murdered 80 Australians and tried many more or are murdering people in Thailand or butchering each other? Are you a blood thirsty barbarian "baby"?
All the 9/11 murderers fit that description quite well and no, terrorism has nothing to do with dire economic ot social circumstantces - making it even more horrible than it already is. It simple meant that there are murderers out there who will look for any reason to satisfy their sick souls and blame it on otehers. It means there are evil preachers and meglaomanicalcal leaders who preach hatred in the name of Allah, use this for political ends and to hell with who gets hurt or falsely blamed in the processs.It means that those who kill in the name of Islam are getting out of hand (if they aren't already).
Britain's attitude towards her Muslim 'Minority' today is an invitation for them to gain more and more Power in the UK. 'Kow-towing' to Islamists was never Tony Blair's preference as it seems to be the agenda today. Gordon Brown's Speech will do nothing to sway those dangerous elements in her midst away from their ideals and it looks as though Al Qaeda's Legacy of Terrorism will be in Britain for a long time to come. Woe that Gordon Brown might be just another 'Chamberlain'......
Deport or imprison every Muslim in the west. Assimilated or otherwise. Then, to quote Ann Coulter: "Invade their countries, kill their leaders and convert them to Christianity"
Right you are! 'The World's Moral Champions'....Apathy or Apology..... Britain has to beware when it regards her millions of Muslims with empathy and words such as 'those great Moderates and the few Extremists...' and 'Do not mix together the words Muslim and Terrorists'.... because it just is not fact. Is Britain facing more problems when nobody can know who is and who is not a 'Moderate' when Muslims say they are all very United and if one should get into trouble, they will doubtlessly stand by him no matter what. Is this the answer to Britain's problem with terrorrism ?
Doctors' opposition to British imperialism, Clickfool?
dispicable
Blame anybody but the perpetrators as usual. Cannnot wait for Dr B. Aloffs and the rest for their usual "terrible but--" or defeaning silence unless forced to comment. Whats Australia ever done to them other than give them a job and a lifestyle they could never get at home?
Whats up with the terror doctor connection? Isn't the number 2 guy in al Qaeda a doctor too?
The UK Daily Mirror has given this Al-Qaeda plot a good name. It's going to cause immense problems for all the decent, hard-working, honourable foreign doctors working in the British health service. People will today be looking twice at anyone with a dusky skin.
...27-year-old doctor arrested in Australia over the foiled terror attacks in London and Glasgow is an Indian national,... Are those Westerners still believe that a middle class --fully integrated-unisolated-well educated in muslim society-- person don't have any interest to sacrifice themselves for a certain CAUSE? Still underestimated the FUNDAMENTAL CAUSE, baby?. Then, prepare for MORE to come.
...27-year-old doctor arrested in Australia over the foiled terror attacks in London and Glasgow is an Indian national,... Are those Westerners still believe that a middle class --fully integrated-unisolated-well educated in muslim society-- person don't have any interest to sacrifice themselves for a certain CAUSE? Still underestimated the FUNDAMENTAL CAUSE, baby?. Then, prepare for MORE to come.