Al-Qaeda warned in April of British attacks: Cleric

BAGHDAD: A senior Al-Qaeda figure chillingly warned a British cleric back in April of plans to attack British targets, telling him 'those who cure you will kill you', the priest said.

The report came after three attempted car bombings in London and Glasgow on Friday and Saturday over which police have apprehended eight suspects, all of whom appear to be doctors or have medical links.

Canon Andrew White, the Baghdad-based head of the Foundation for Relief and Reconciliation in the Middle East, said he met the unnamed Al-Qaeda leader, who had come from Syria, on the sidelines of a religious meeting in the Jordanian capital Amman.

White said he had passed the warning along to a senior official at the British foreign ministry, but not the specific words.

When contacted, a foreign ministry spokeswoman would only say, "The official in question doesn't recall the conversation that is supposed to have taken place." 

According to a statement released by White, the Al-Qaeda leader 'talked to me about how they were going to destroy British and Americans. He told me that the plans were already made and they would soon be destroying the British.'

"He said the people who cure you would kill you." 

White said the man who delivered the warning, who was in his 40s, said at the time that the plans would be carried out in the coming weeks, and would target the British first. 

He did not learn the man's identity until after the meeting, and did not disclose it.