LONDON - Britain has lowered the terrorism threat level following the capture of eight people connected with three failed car bombings and increased scrutiny of foreigners recruited for their skills, including doctors.

Britain's Prime Minister Gordon Brown speaks in the House of Commons, London, Wednesday, July 4, 2007, during Prime Minister's Questions. [AP]

In other developments in the case Wednesday, a British priest who works in Baghdad said he was warned more than two months ago of attacks on Britain and the United States by a man believed linked to al-Qaida who also hinted that doctors might be involved.

All of the suspects in last week's attempted car bombings in London and a fiery vehicle attack in Glasgow are doctors or other medical personnel. Authorities say the failed bombings bear all the characteristics of an al-Qaida operation.

Britain reduced its terrorism threat level to "severe," meaning further attacks are still considered likely but not imminent, as was feared when authorities raised the level to "critical" after the failed attacks.

Still, Britain's home secretary asked the public to remain vigilant, saying there was still a "serious and real threat against the United Kingdom."

Prime Minister Gordon Brown said there will be increased scrutiny of foreigners recruited for their skills, including doctors coming to work for the National Health Service.

"We'll expand the background checks that have been done where there are highly skilled migrant workers coming into this country," Brown told the House of Commons in his first appearance at the weekly prime minister's questions.

Six physicians are among the eight suspects - one each from Iraq, Lebanon and Jordan and two from India. Also in custody are the Jordanian's wife, a medical assistant, and a doctor and medical student thought to be from the Middle East, possibly Saudi Arabia. None has been charged.

A senior Anglican priest, meanwhile, said he received a cryptic warning from a purported al-Qaida chief more than two months ago. Canon Andrew White said the man, an educated Iraqi in his 40s who wore Western clothes, threatened attacks on Britain and the United States and hinted at the involvement of doctors.

"'Those who cure you are going to kill you,'" he quoted the man as telling him at a gathering of religious leaders on April 18 in Jordanian capital, Amman. White, who spoke to The Associated Press by telephone from Baghdad, meets regularly with extremists in an attempt to calm Iraq's sectarian violence.

"As soon as I heard many of the suspects were doctors I remembered those words," White said. "I work with a lot of people who are not necessarily good people. It becomes very difficult to distinguish what threat is real and what is not."

White said he gave the man's identity to the Foreign Office but would not say publicly what it was. He also said he gave the same details to American authorities in Baghdad.

A US-based intelligence monitoring group said Wednesday that it obtained a copy of a video in which al-Qaida's No. 2 leader urges Muslims to unite in a holy war against the West. But it did not mention the bombing attempts in Britain.

It was not possible to determine from the transcript released by the group SITE whether the video of Ayman al-Zawahri was recorded before the attacks.

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