Posted on 07/11/2007 12:32:18 PM PDT by Froufrou
An Indian man who allegedly drove a jeep into Glasgow airport was an engineer who worked at an outsourcing firm used by aerospace manufacturers, a company spokesman said Tuesday.
Kafeel Ahmed worked as a design engineer at the Bangalore offices of Infotech Enterprises between December 2005 and July 2006 before leaving his job, spokesman K.S. Susindar said in a telephone interview.
"From what I understand, he was very good at his job," Susindar told AFP from the southern Indian city of Hyderabad, where Infotech has its headquarters. "He was very polite and kept very much to himself."
Ahmed, who is in his mid-20s, has been identified as the man who drove a Jeep Cherokee into the Glasgow airport terminal on June 30, a day after British police detected and defused two car bombs in London.
He is being treated for severe burns suffered in the incident.
The comments from the Infotech spokesman came after the Times of India reported that Ahmed may have links to Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaeda network.
Three CDs and a computer hard drive recovered from Ahmed's home contained inflammatory speeches by bin Laden, as well as anti-US and anti-Britain propaganda, the newspaper reported in its Bangalore edition.
Ahmed had a master's degree in mechanical engineering from Kuvempu University in India's Karnataka state, and a master of philosophy (M.Phil) in aeronautical engineering from Belfast's Queen's University, Susindar said.
The spokesman said he was basing his comments on Ahmed's employment records as well as conversations with the man's former co-workers in Bangalore that he had contacted.
Susindar said Infotech had "absolutely no" problems with Ahmed during the time he worked there. He added that he had no information on what specific projects he might have worked on.
According to Infotech's website, the company, which has 5,500 employees, provides engineering design services to clients in the aerospace, transportation, utilities, telecommunications and government sectors.
Ahmed was working toward his doctorate in aeronautical engineering in Britain, but his studies were put on hold because of his refusal to take out a loan on grounds that it was un-Islamic, according to Indian media reports.
Islam bars the payment and receipt of interest on loans.
Kafeel's younger brother Sabeel, a doctor, has also been detained in Britain on suspicion that he was linked to the foiled car bombing plot.
A third Indian identified as Mohammed Haneef, also a doctor, was held in Australia as he attempted to leave that country for India on a one-way plane ticket. He has been identified as a relative of the Ahmed brothers.
An Australian federal police agent arrived in New Delhi on Tuesday "to liaise with Indian authorities conducting enquiries," said a spokesman for the Australian High Commission in the Indian capital.
Indian investigations are centering on the background and religious leanings of the three men, who all came from Bangalore, India's software hub.
Kafeel Ahmed's mother said she was aware of his "fanatical inclinations" and had threatened to disown him if he did "something wrong," the Times of India said.
The paper quoted her as telling investigators: "I still cannot imagine he did something of this magnitude."
ping
ping
Joke doing the rounds in Glasgow:
One of the Glasgow bombers ‘Singe Majeep’ is complaining that all he gets to eat in hospital is haggis, neeps and tatties. Well what does he expect in a Burns unit?
‘Islam bars the payment and receipt of interest on loans.’
You can’t say terrorists are ‘ineducated’ but now you can say they are not wealthy. (How are you going to increase your net worth without credit? Unless you’re born ‘rich’)
I know about haggis, but what are neeps and tatties? Do I wanna know?
Neeps are mashed turnip. Tatties are mashed potatoes. We serve them all at a (Robert) Burns supper with large doses of Scotch whisky.
The whiskey helps the haggis to go down.
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