The father of a self-confessed terrorist yesterday apologised for his son's actions and for the distress he caused the British public.

Professor Talal Abdulla, 57, said his son, Dr Bilal Abdulla, had brought shame to the good name of his family and had gone against the rules of Islam, the religion of "love and tolerance".

Dr Abdulla, 29, has admitted planting "fire devices" in London's West End with Kafeel Ahmed, 28, in June last year. He was also the passenger in a Jeep Cherokee that Ahmed drove in to the main entrance of Glasgow Airport the following day.

In a statement read to a jury at Woolwich Crown Court, Professor Abdulla said martyrs were "destined for hellfire", that he did not know what motivated his son and that his family was against extremism.

"I am deeply sorry and apologise to the British public and authorities for any distress caused," he wrote. "When I heard Bilal had been arrested and what he had done it was as if the sky had fallen on me and my family, and we were shocked. We still haven't recovered from this.

"I believe in Islam, the religion of love and tolerance. I am against violence and extremism and make no distinction between people on the basis of race and religion. I have brought my children up in this way."

Professor Abdulla, now based in Jordan with his wife Suad Ibrahim, their four daughters and one other son, said Dr Abdulla had revealed he was planning to return to his family in late June last year.

He spoke to him two weeks before he was arrested at Glasgow Airport on June 30 last year, when Dr Abdulla's mother was making plans for her son to be married.

The father had told his son to be "respectful of the country he was living in" when he moved to Britain in 2004 to complete his training.

Professor Abdulla had done the same when he and his wife moved from Iraq in 1979. They lived in Glasgow briefly before moving to Aylesbury, where Dr Abdulla was born.

He said: "I am a healer by profession. This is the purpose of my life. I wanted my children to do the same thing and be productive and beneficial members of society.

"It is common knowledge in Islam that suicide is simple and Harram (forbidden) and not permitted. Any person who commits suicide is destined for hellfire. Bilal knows this and I couldn't contemplate Bilal doing this. Anyone who kills innocent people is destined for hellfire."

The professor, who said he had death threats made against him before fleeing Baghdad, was interviewed several times by security forces after his son's arrest.

The family fled Iraq in the fallout of the war there after seeing friends and family murdered, kidnapped or attacked by Shi'ite militias and American coalition troops, the court heard. ProfessorAbdulla said he feared his son's arrest could lead to his family being thrown out of Jordan, where they are refugees.

Dr Bilal Abdulla and Dr Mohammad Asha, 28, were allegedly part of small terrorist cell seeking revenge for the persecution of Muslims in Iraq and Afghanistan.

They deny conspiracy to murder and conspiracy to cause explosions likely to endanger life between January 1, 2006 and July 1, 2007.

The trial continues.