Armed police officers patrol Glasgow Airport in Scotland, yesterday. British anti-terror detectives were hunting yesterday for more members of a suspected militant cell who rammed a burning jeep into a Scottish airport and tried to detonate two car bombs in central London. - Reuters

PAISLEY, Scotland (Reuters):

British police held seven people yesterday, after two overnight arrests in their pursuit of a suspected al Qaida cell which rammed a fuel-packed jeep into a Scottish airport and left two car bombs in London.

Two of those detained were confirmed to be doctors, one of whom qualified in Iraq and the other in Jordan.

The Iraqi-trained doctor was named by police sources as Bilal Abdulla, who worked at the Royal Alexandra Hospital in the Scottish town of Paisley and the Jordanian as Mohammed Asha. Asha's wife has also been arrested.

Housing blocks at the hospital, near Glasgow, where the airport was attacked on Saturday, were cordoned off by police and two controlled detonations were carried out there yesterday as authorities stayed on high alert.

Critical

Fearing further attacks, police banned cars and other vehicles from directly approaching airports and security measures were stepped up across the country as authorities kept the threat level at 'critical', the highest rating.

A police source said the investigation was going very well and they expected to make more arrests. The source said the plot bore "all the hallmarks" of al Qaida and there had been no warning of Saturday's attack on Glasgow airport.

That attack and the car bombs left in London on Friday, pose a tough test for Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who last week replaced Tony Blair.

Islamist suicide bombers

In 2005, Britain was the first country in Western Europe to be hit by Islamist suicide bombers and since then, several plots have been foiled.

Blair was known for an aggressive stance on security and a foreign policy which strongly supported the United States in Afghanistan and Iraq. The home-grown bombers, who struck London transport two years ago, killing 52 commuters, said in videos they were punishing Britain for Blair's policies.

The latest arrests, made on Sunday in Paisley, involved two men, 25 and 28, who were not believed to be of Scottish origin.