Early investigation reveals no terror link to London car bomb

LONDON (AP) --Officials say British authorities have found no terrorist link to the defused London car bomb during the early hours of their investigation.

London police say the bomb could have caused ?significant injury or loss of life.?

They say the silver Mercedes parked near Piccadilly Circus was packed with fuel, gas canisters and nails.

There are reports that bombers intended to set off the bomb remotely. Sky-TV, cites sources who say the remote detonation would have been caused by a cell phone.

Nightclub doormen called police early this morning after the driver of the car crashed it into garbage bins, then ran away.

The bomb was defused after an ambulance crew spotted smoke coming from the Mercedes.

A British security official tells The Associated Press there are similarities between the device in the car and vehicle bombs used by insurgents in Iraq.

Scotland Yard?s Peter Clarke told a London news conference today the incident shows the terror threat ?is real, it is here and it is enduring.?

Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who took office just two days ago, says it underscores the ?need to be alert.?

Police in London say authorities plan to examine footage from closed-circuit television cameras in the area near where the bomb was found.

Authorities hope the surveillance network that extends throughout London will help them track the driver.

A security official says Britain's domestic spy agency will examine possible connections between the bomb attempt and at least two similar foiled plots.

One is a planned attack on a West End nightclub in 2004 and the other is a thwarted attempt to use limousines packed with gas canisters to attack targets in London and New York.