Britain says had no warning of plane bomb plot

Passenger buses are seen near Northwest Airlines Flight 253 on the tarmac at Detroit Metro Airport, December 27, 2009.

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's security services had no advance warning of an alleged al Qaeda plot to bomb a U.S.-bound plane and officials did not withhold intelligence from their American counterparts, the UK government said on Tuesday.

Home Secretary (interior minister) Alan Johnson said Britain had shared details about the Nigerian suspect with Washington, although there was no information about any specific attack.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown's government has come under pressure to explain how much the UK security services knew about Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab and whether they shared all their intelligence with Washington.

Brown's spokesman said on Monday that Britain had passed "security information about this individual's activities" to the United States, raising questions about whether U.S. officials failed to act on that intelligence.

However, Johnson told parliament that while Britain had shared intelligence, the information was broad and it did not give any indication that an attack was likely.

"None of the information we held or shared indicated that Abdulmutallab was about to attempt a terrorist attack against the United States," Johnson said.

U.S. President Barack Obama has faced a political storm over the alleged plot to bomb the Detroit-bound jet on Christmas Day, with critics accusing his administration of security failures.

The opposition Conservative Party said the comments from Brown's spokesman risked damaging Britain's relations with the United States because they appeared to exaggerate the importance of the shared intelligence.

Conservative interior ministry spokesman Chris Grayling accused Brown's government of treating the intelligence in an "inaccurate and cavalier" fashion.

"For the prime minister to exaggerate, mislead or spin intelligence information, particularly when it relates to a terrorist threat, is absolutely unacceptable," he said.

Pressed on the issue on Tuesday, Brown's spokesman said there was "no suggestion that the UK passed any information to the United States that they did not act on."

Britain's security service was aware of Abdulmutallab when he was studying engineering in London between 2005 and 2008, although he was not seen as someone engaged with violent extremism, Johnson said.

His name was added to a watchlist compiled by immigration officials, rather than anti-terrorism officers, after he applied in April this year to study at a London college that was not accredited to accept overseas students.

Announcing tighter security measures after the alleged bomb plot, Johnson said full body scanners will be set up at London's Heathrow Airport within three weeks.

However, he conceded that they would have had only a 50-60 percent chance of detecting the explosives which prosecutors say were used in the Detroit plot.

(Editing by Jon Boyle)