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Police press on after Glasgow bombing suspect dies
2007-08-03
Police pressed on with investigations into failed car bomb attacks in Britain Friday after a man who drove a vehicle packed with gas canisters into Glasgow airport died from his injuries. Kafeel Ahmed, 27, died Thursday, nearly seven weeks after reportedly suffering 90 percent burns to his skin in the June 30 attack on Scotland's biggest airport, which came a day after a linked failed incident in London. Ahmed, an engineer from Bangalore in India, drove a Jeep Cherokee laden with propane gas canisters into the front of the terminal, setting the sports utility vehicle and part of the building ablaze. In India his family said they would comment once police had confirmed his identity. "Once we get information regarding the same we will be able to make a statement," said a family lawyer. Three male doctors, including the dead man's brother, remain in custody in Britain over the attacks, while an Indian doctor who was held in Australia for three weeks has been freed. Ahmed had been in a critical condition since the attack, and was kept under armed police guard in a hospital specialist unit. "We can confirm that the man seriously injured during the course of the incident at Glasgow airport on Saturday June 30 has died in Glasgow Royal Infirmary," a Strathclyde Police spokesman said Thursday. "The man died earlier this evening and the circumstances surrounding the death have been reported to the procurator fiscal." The Glasgow airport attack came the day after bungled bombing attempts in London, when two cars packed with gas canisters and nails were left in the city centre, one outside a popular nightclub and the other near Trafalgar Square. Doctors at Glasgow Royal Infirmary said last month there was little hope of Kafeel Ahmed surviving his injuries. A medic, speaking anonymously on July 11, said he had third-degree burns over most of his torso and limbs. "It is beyond repair and because he has lost so much skin he is now vulnerable to infection and won't be able to fight it," he said. Ahmed's brother Sabeel, 26, appeared in court last month and was remanded until August 13 charged with withholding information on terrorism. Two others were remanded in custody on greater charges, including Iraqi doctor Bilal Abdulla, 27, who was arrested at Glasgow airport. Abdulla and Jordanian doctor Mohammed Asha, 26, stand accused of conspiring between January 1 and July 1 this year to cause explosions "of a nature likely to endanger life or cause serious injury." Asha and Abdulla are due to appear in court in central London on September 10 to decide whether their case should be sent to a higher court. As Ahmed died, a Glasgow airport baggage-handler who tackled him immediately after the attack was personally thanked by British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who hailed him as a hero. John Smeaton, 31, made headlines worldwide after giving a television interview explaining why he tackled the suspected bombers despite the danger. "This is Glasgow, you know -- we'll set about you. That's it," he said at the time. Brown said: "This is a very brave man and a very courageous man and I think the whole country owes John a debt of gratitude. He is a hero and we are proud of him." Indian doctor Mohamed Haneef, a cousin of the Ahmeds, spent three weeks in detention in Australia before being released due to a lack of evidence. He returned home Sunday after Australian police dropped charges that he had "recklessly" supported the car bombing plot by giving his mobile-phone SIM card to one of two cousins implicated in the conspiracy.
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