Failed British terror attacks tied to Iraq

LONDON, Dec. 14 (UPI) -- Sources familiar with the British investigation into failed terrorist attacks in London and Scotland said the plots have been linked to al-Qaida in Mesopotamia.

The sources, senior officials from three countries who have been briefed on the investigation, said the failed attacks six months ago appear to be the first known plots the terrorist group has participated in outside of the Middle East, The New York Times reported Friday.

A senior U.S. intelligence official said evidence linking alleged plotters Bilal Abdulla and Kafeel Ahmed to al-Qaida in Mesopotamia included stored phone numbers of known members of the group on the two men's cell phones.

Abdulla, a British doctor of Iraqi descent, and Ahmed, an aeronautical engineer from India, allegedly attempted to ignite two cars filled with gas canisters and explosives near a popular London nightclub but they failed to detonate. The two men allegedly drove a Jeep Cherokee filled with gas canisters into the Glasgow, Scotland, airport the following day. Ahmed suffered severe burns and died of his injuries weeks after the incident.