2 suspects in U.K. terror attacks made U.S. inquiries; charges recommended against Iraqi

Two suspects in the failed car bombings in Britain made inquiries about working in the United States, the FBI said Friday, and British prosecutors said an Iraqi arrested after the attack on Glasgow airport should face terrorism charges.

An FBI spokeswoman said Mohammed Asha and another suspect had contacted the Philadelphia-based Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates, as first reported in The Philadelphia Inquirer. Asha, a Jordanian physician of Palestinian heritage, contacted the agency within the last year, but apparently did not take the test for foreign medical school graduates, said the spokeswoman, Nancy O'Dowd.

"He was applying, (but) we don't believe he took the test," she said. She could not confirm the name of the second suspect to make inquiries.

Later, Britain's Crown Prosecution Service said police should charge 27-year-old Bilal Abdulla, an Iraqi-born physician arrested at Glasgow's airport after a Jeep Cherokee he was allegedly traveling in rammed into a terminal building.

"I have now made the decision that there is sufficient evidence and authorized the charging of Bilal Abdullah with conspiracy to cause explosions following incidents in London and Glasgow," said Susan Hemming, an anti-terrorism prosecutor.

On June 29, authorities defused two car bombs that had been set to explode near packed nightclubs and pubs in central London. The following day, two people rammed a car loaded with gasoline canisters into the main terminal at Glasgow's airport. The car crashed and caught fire, seriously burning one of the suspects. Both men were arrested.

All eight suspects were foreigners working for Britain's National Health Service, six from countries in the Middle East and two from India.