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July 13, 2006

UK: Jihad Book At Home Of Suspected Islamist Terror Plotter

We reported on the start of the trial of seven UK nationals, mostly of Pakistani descent, which began on March 22. The seven individuals had been arrested on 30 March 2004, after being under surveillance for some time. They are said to have purchased 600 kilograms (1,320) of ammonium nitrate, an explosive, which they had kept in a storage depot. It was recently noted during the trial that police had replaced the dangerous chemical with a non-explosive substance and secretly filmed at least one member of the group visiting the vat of chemicals to check it.

The individuals who are on trial are: Jawad Akbar, aged 22, Omar Khyam, aged 24, Shujah Mahmood, aged 18, and Waheed Mahmood, aged 34, all from Crawley, West Sussex, and Anthony Garcia, aged 27, from Ilford, Salahuddin Amin, aged 31, from Luton, and Nabeel Hussain, aged 20, from Horley, Surrey.

As we reported at the start of the trial, many of these had gone to Pakistan, where they attended a terrorist trainng camp, and were shown how to use explosives. The group is said to have wanted to carry out a 9/11 style attack on Britain, but had not finalised their targets. The supposed ringleader, Omar Khyam (right in the picture) had discussed in taped conversations the possibility of attacking the Bluewater Shopping Center, a plane, the Ministry of Sound nightclub, and the electrical power company, National Grid Transco, where Waheed Mahmood had been employed.

Many of the recorded conversations took place between Khyam and Jawad Akbar (left in picture). Following the arrests of the seven individuals, Mohammad Momin Khawaja, a Canadian of Pakistani origin was arrested in Ottowa on March 29, 2004.

During the trial, evidence was given by a US national of Pakistani origin, Junaid Babar, who had fled to Pakistan immediately after the 9/11 attacks. He had met members of the group, as we described on June 17 when they were in Pakistan, and gave evidence in court that he had met Omar Kham in Britain in November 2002. He had then encountered Waheed Mahmood, Omar Khyam Salahuddin Amin and Anthony Garcia in Pakistan.

Babar, who had been arrested in April 2004, is currently in jail in the US, but he had agreed to cooperate with US authorities. He said that Omar Khyam and Salahuddin Amin had claimed, while in Pakistan,to work for Abdul Hadi, a man known as an Al Qaeda operative. Babar also stated that Waheed Mahmood had spoken of setting up a fast food stand, and selling poisoned burgers to the public.

There are some curious links between Junaid Babar, to the seven individuals on trial, to other suspected Al Qaeda members, such as Mohammed Sidique Khan (leader of 7/7) and Haroon Rashid Aswat, and also to members of Al-Muhajiroun, including Sajeel Shahid, a founder of Al-Muhajiroun, who had paid for Babar to come to Pakistan in 2001. I discussed, rather ramblingly, these links on July 9. There also appear to be intelligence links to the 17 suspects recently arrested in Canada and others recently arrested in Britain.

Today, the Argus reports that yesterday, the Old Bailey court heard that a search of the home of Jawad Akbar had uncovered books on jihad.

His home in Crawley was raided on March 30, 2004, after being under surveillance for a month by MI5, the UK homeland intelligence agency. This was the same day that he was arrested. The titles of the books were Death Paradise Hellfire and Jihad & Martyrs. There were also cassettes labelled Jihad in Afghanistan, which contained sermons from an Islamic cleric, and others entitled Hell.

He was also found to have photographs of children being educated in how to use landmines and weaponry.

The agricultural fertiliser, which could have been used as a bomb-material, was purchased from Bodle Brothers in Burgess Hill, Sussex. In Akbar's home there was found a bank statement from Omar Khyam. On this statement had been written the number for Bodle Brothers.

In early 2004, Jawad Akbar had been living in Uxbridge, West London.On Sunday 22 February a secret recording had been made there, of Akbar and Khyam discussing the logistics of blowing up utility companies, to cut off essential energy supplies. Their conversation then, as we reported on May 25, turned to the subject of bombing a major nightclub or bar:

Jawad Akbar: "What about easy stuff where you don't need no experience and nothing and you could get a job, yeah, like for example the biggest nightclub in central London where no-one can even turn round and say "oh they were innocent" those slags dancing around?"
Omar Khayam: "If you get a job in a bar, yeah, or a club, say the Ministry of Sound, what are you planning to do there then?"
Jawad Akbar: "Blow the whole thing up."
Omar Khayam: "That's what I'm saying."
Jawad Akbar: "I think the club thing you could do, but the gas would be much harder. There's people who even get in with their searching stuff but it's only bouncers that search you."
Omar Khayam: "The explosion in the clubs, yeah, that's fine, bro, that's not a problem. The training for that is available. To get them into the Ministry of Sound really isn't difficult."

Then the two (calling each other "bruv") discussed if their conversation was being bugged. The pair discussed how British security was "crap" and "a joke" on the recording.

All of the defendants except Nabeel Hussain had attended at least one jihadist training camp in Pakistan.

Jawad Akbar, Omar Khyam, Shuja & Waheed Mahmood, Salahuddin Amin, Anthony Garcia and Nabeel Hussain all deny conspiring to cause explosions likely to endanger life between 1 January, 2003 and 31 March, 2004.

Khyam, Garcia and Hussain further deny a charge under the Terrorism Act of possessing ammonium nitrate fertiliser for terrorism. Khyam and Shujah Mahmood deny possessing aluminium powder for terrorism.

The trial continues.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at July 13, 2006 9:33 PM

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