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Suspect in bomb plot appears in court

He is ordered held in a high-security prison as Britain remembers victims of attacks in 2005.

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published July 8, 2007

LONDON - Impassive and staring straight ahead, an Iraqi doctor was led into court by plainclothes security officers Saturday, the first suspect to appear on charges of plotting to bomb London's entertainment district and Scotland's busiest airport.

Police stepped up security across the British capital, where Prime Minister Gordon Brown laid flowers outside one of the train stations hit two years ago in suicide bombings that killed 52 commuters in the first militant Islamic strike on Britain.

Bilal Abdullah, 27, a doctor born in Britain and raised in Iraq, was the only person in City of Westminster Magistrates Court to remain seated when the judge entered the room to the customary cry of "All rise!"

Abdullah was asked to stand, and did, as the charge of conspiring to cause explosions was read out. The charge against Abdullah refers to a plot taking place between Jan. 1 and July 1, suggesting prosecutors believe the attacks were planned well in advance.

Stocky, unshaven and wearing a white sweatshirt, he sat expressionless in the dock, speaking only to confirm his name and date of birth during the brief hearing. Seven other suspects have been detained over the foiled car bomb attacks.

His lawyers did not seek bail, and Judge Anthony Evans ordered Abdullah held at a high-security prison until his next hearing, at London's Central Criminal Court on July 27.

The plot was discovered when emergency workers spotted two cars packed with gas cylinders and nails June 29 in the busy heart of London's West End. The next day, a Jeep Cherokee smashed into the security barriers at Glasgow airport.

Prosecutors suspect Abdullah and Kafeel Ahmed, an engineer from India, believed to be the driver of the Jeep, carried out the attempted bombings in London before they returned to Scotland - where Abdullah worked at a Glasgow-area hospital - and attacked the airport.

One of the suspects is being held in Australia. There are seven detained in Britain, including Ahmed, who is hospitalized in critical condition in Scotland with severe burns from the attack on the airport.

Ahmed holds a doctorate in aeronautical engineering. Another suspect is Sabeel Ahmed, 26, an Indian doctor arrested in Liverpool, whom relatives confirmed is Kafeel Ahmed's brother.

Most of the suspects worked for Britain's health service and come from countries in the Middle East and India.

In Australia, police seized computers from two hospitals Friday as they explored connections between the British plotters and Muhammad Haneef, an Indian doctor arrested there.

The others in custody are Mohammed Asha, 26, a doctor arrested in England; his wife, Marwa Asha; and two unidentified men, ages 25 and 28, arrested at the hospital near Glasgow where Abdullah worked.

[Last modified July 8, 2007, 01:25:36]