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Australian Doc Among 3 Latest Arrests

"This case could be the final proof that an idea those involved in these type of attacks are all young, angry and poorly educated is a mistake," said Paul Cornish, a former British army officer and director of defense studies at London's Chatham House think tank.

"It's wrong to suggest al-Qaida are ignorant hill men. They are often middle or upper class and well educated," Cornish said.


An armed police officer patrols in Whitehall, central London, Sunday, July 1, 2007. Britain has moved to the highest level of terror alert, 'critical', after two car bombs were defused in the capital on Friday, and a suspected terrorist attack on Glasgow airport on Saturday. (AP Photo/Simon Dawson)
An armed police officer patrols in Whitehall, central London, Sunday, July 1, 2007. Britain has moved to the highest level of terror alert, 'critical', after two car bombs were defused in the capital on Friday, and a suspected terrorist attack on Glasgow airport on Saturday. (AP Photo/Simon Dawson) (Simon Dawson - AP)

Former U.S intelligence officer Bob Ayers, now a security analyst based in London, said wealth or intelligence matters little to people committed to extremism.

"We shouldn't be surprised that educated men are as involved as poor youngsters," he said. "They all subscribe to the same radical ideology, that's the only criteria they need to fill."

Salil Vengalil, a doctor at North Staffordshire Hospital, near the Midlands town of Newcastle-under-Lyme, said Asha worked in the neurology department at that hospital.

A doctor at the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Glasgow, who refused to give his name, said he recognized Asha as a doctor who also kept an office there. The hospital would not confirm that.

In Amman, Jordan, Asha's father, Jamil, denied his 26-year-old son had any terrorist leanings.

"My son is a moderate Muslim and carried out his religious duties, but he never embraced fanaticism," he told The Associated Press.

Information also surfaced Monday suggesting authorities had been close on the trail of the alleged plotters before the attack at the Glasgow airport.

Rental agent Daniel Gardiner, whose company leased a Glasgow-area house searched by police, said officers contacted his firm just before the airport blaze to say they had tracked phone records linked to the property.

Officials recovered at least one cell phone from the car bombs in London, Rep. Peter King of New York, the senior Republican on the U.S. House Homeland Security Committee, said Friday after being briefed about the London situation.

As the investigation spread, police flooded London's subway and train stations, even clamping down on access to the Wimbledon tennis tournament, where concrete blocks were set in front of the main entrance.

In a statement to the House of Commons, Home Secretary Jacqui Smith urged Britons to remain united.

"Let us be clear: terrorists are criminals, whose victims come from all walks of life, communities and religious backgrounds," she said. "Terrorists attack the values that are shared by all law-abiding citizens. It is through our unity that the terrorists will eventually be defeated."

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Associated Press writers Ben McConville in Glasgow; Rob Harris in Newcastle-under-Lyme, England; Katherine Shrader in Washington; and Shafika Mattar in Amman, Jordan, contributed to this report.


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© 2007 The Associated Press