The man who drove a burning four-wheel drive car into the terminal building in Glasgow as part of a terrorist plot studied at Queen's University, Belfast for three years, it has emerged.
Kafeel Ahmed (27), doused himself in petrol and set light to himself in the attack on Saturday. He is thought to have been the driver of the Jeep Cherokee which burst into flames as it was rammed into the terminal building.
He is currently in a critical condition in a specialist unit at Glasgow Royal Infirmary, having suffered third-degree burns to 90 per cent of his body. Ahmed, who has also been known as Khalid Ahmed, has been kept under armed guard and was described as still being in a critical condition.
Meanwhile, Iraqi doctor Bilal Abdullah tonight became the first person to be charged over the London and Glasgow car bomb attacks.
Dr Abdullah , who was arrested after a flaming Jeep was driven into the doors of the arrivals hall of Glasgow Airport tomorrow, will appear before magistrates in Westminster, central London, tomorrow. He was charged tonight with conspiring to cause explosions, Scotland Yard said.
It was initially thought that Ahmed was a medical doctor, however it emerged today he had a doctorate in aeronautical engineering and had studied at Queen's University in Belfast and Anglia Polytechnic University in Cambridge.
Ahmed, from Bangalore in India, began his studies in Belfast in 2001 and remained in Northern Ireland until 2004. It is understood that he lived in rented accommodation with other students in Hampton Place, close to the university before returning to Bangalore in India in August 2005.
He is thought to be the older brother of Dr Sabeel Ahmed, who was arrested by police in Liverpool in connection with the attempted attacks in London and Glasgow.
Eight people have been arrested in the UK and Australia over the bomb plots. Two of those were arrested by Strathclyde Police at the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Paisley.
Six of those arrested are being held at London's Paddington Green police station.