Hunt on for sixth suspect in failed car bombings

LONDON: Police hunted on Monday for at least one more suspect believed to belong to an Al-Qaeda cell behind several failed car bombings in Britain after arresting five people, British media reported.

Officers searched properties in British cities as the number of people arrested in the attempted attacks in Glasgow and London rose to five, including one man in critical condition in hospital with severe burns.

Newspapers said at least one of those held is believed to be a doctor.

The Daily Telegraph said police were now looking for at least one more suspect, while The Guardian said they were hunting at least three people.

But police refused to confirm that at least one suspect was still at large.

Police said they found strong links between the discovery of two cars laden with gas canisters and nails in London's entertainment district on Friday and a blazing jeep that rammed into Glasgow airport's main terminal on Saturday.

Two men inside the Jeep were arrested at the airport, although the driver suffered severe burns after being engulfed in flames and is in a critical condition in a Scottish hospital.

Hours later anti-terror officers arrested a 26-year-old man and a 27-year-old woman on the M6 motorway in Cheshire in northwest England before taking them for questioning to a central London police station.

The man is an Iranian doctor who works at North Staffordshire Hospital in Stoke-on-Trent, according to The Sun newspaper.

London's Metropolitan Police, which takes the lead in anti-terrorism operations, refused to comment on this or on BBC reports that all those arrested were from the Middle East.

A spokeswoman for North Staffordshire Hospital also declined to comment.

The fifth suspect, a 26-year-old man, was arrested at Liverpool's Lime Street Station overnight on Saturday.

Britain went on maximum alert following the failed attack in Glasgow.