Bungled Europe Bombings Linked to Iraq Al-Qaeda

Terrorist plotters behind bungled bombings in London and Glasgow six months ago have been linked to an al-Qaeda group in Iraq. The bombings are the first attacks attempted by the group Al-Qaeda in Mesopotamia outside the Mideast, reports the New York Times. The plotters drove a vehicle packed with gas cannisters into a Glasgow airport terminal, causing only a fire. Explosives in two cars parked outside a London nightclub failed to detonate.

A British-born doctor raised in Iraq, who survived the airport attack, is awaiting trial. Investigators believe he was the link between other plotters and the al-Qaeda group. The attacks failed because the men clearly had little bomb expertise, according to officials. “Technical expertise is different from operational sophistication,” said a terrorism expert. (More al-Qaeda in Iraq stories.)