Car Crash at Glasgow Airport Raises Fears

LONDON -- Detectives hunted Saturday for suspects who abandoned two explosives-packed cars in the heart of London's nightlife district, reviewing closed circuit television footage and scouring the vehicles for clues.

Amid fears of further attacks, a burning sport utility vehicle crashed at full speed into the terminal building at Glasgow airport in Scotland, police and witnesses said.

The airport was evacuated and all flights suspended. TV footage showed flames and black smoke rising from a vehicle in front of the building.

"The Jeep is completely on fire and it exploded not long after. It exploded at the entrance to the terminal," witness Stephen Clarkson told the British Broadcasting Corp. "It may have been an explosion of petrol in the tank because it was not a massive explosion."

Earlier Saturday, counterterrorism officers at Scotland Yard briefed Prime Minister Gordon Brown, and the British leader later chaired a meeting of top spies, police and senior officials in COBRA, the government's emergency committee, his office said.

Detectives said they were keeping an open mind about the suspects in the London case, but terrorism experts said the signs pointed to a cell linked to or inspired by al-Qaida. Police would not comment on an ABC News report saying police had a "crystal clear" picture of one suspect from CCTV footage.

Police said they were strengthening patrols in the city to reassure the public, with 350 officers on duty at the annual Gay Pride parade through central London, not far from where two Mercedes loaded with gasoline, gas canisters and nails were found Friday.

One car was abandoned outside a nightclub on Haymarket, a busy street of shops, clubs, theaters and restaurants just yards from Trafalgar Square and Piccadilly Circus.

The other had been towed after being parked illegally on a nearby street and was discovered in an impound lot about a mile away near Hyde Park.

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Peter Clarke, the Metropolitan Police anti-terrorism chief, said the two devices could have caused "significant injury or loss of life."

The plot was uncovered a week before the second anniversary of the July 7 suicide bombings that killed 52 commuters on the city's transit system.

"London on the Edge" said the front-page headline in The Independent newspaper while the Daily Mail wondered, "Where's the Next Bomb?"