Police seek more suspects over bomb plots

By Peter Graff

GLASGOW (Reuters) - Police were hunting on Monday for accomplices of suspected militants who rammed a burning jeep into a Scottish airport and tried to detonate two car bombs in central London.

A police source said a manhunt was under way for an unspecified number of suspects after five people were arrested at the weekend. All five detained were thought to be foreigners, the source said.

Top-selling Sun newspaper identified one of those detained as an Iranian doctor who worked at North Staffordshire Hospital. A spokeswoman at the hospital declined to comment on the case and police would not identify those detained.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown, facing a difficult test in his first few days in office, said those behind the botched attacks were associated with al Qaeda.

Security has been raised to its highest level, "critical", meaning an attack is believed to be imminent.

"We are dealing with a long-term threat," Brown said on Sunday. He said the attacks could not be justified as opposition to Britain's foreign policy.

"Irrespective of Iraq, irrespective of Afghanistan, we have an international organisation trying to inflict the maximum damage on civilian life in pursuit of a terrorist cause that is totally unacceptable to most people."

U.S. President George W. Bush praised Brown for a "very strong response" to the attacks.