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August 13, 2006

UK: Muslim Air Terror Plot And Al Qaeda Links In Pakistan

In the early hours of Thursday, August 10, the UK Home Secretary John Reid announced that a major terror plot had been intercepted, which would have meant nine aircraft, traveling to the United States, were being targeted by suicide bombers. As a result, chaos at airports followed, as passengers were told they could only enter planes with hand luggage visible in a clear plastic bag. No drink, and no electronic devices, such as MP3 players or mobile phones, were to be allowed in any cabin. Mothers with baby's milk bottles were asked to taste the liquid before boarding any plane.

As well as causing chaos, which was endured stoically by most passengers, once they knew there was a terror alert, news came of arrests of people in London, High Wycombe and Birmingham. Since then, there has been an avalanche of news. 24 people are in custody in Britain, three in Pakistan with two of them British, and there are fears that more bombers are still on the loose. Britain's security alert level is still at "critical".

The fears of liquids, which affected plane passengers, related to the plot's involvement of liquid explosives, probably of a type of nitroglycerine, which would be assembled on board the targeted planes and detonated with batteries from inconspicuous electronic devices.

Attention in the media is now falling upon the Pakistan connection. We mentioned that three individuals received earthquake donations from a charity calling itself "Muslim Charity". The money had been sent in December, ostensibly to assist in the relief operations following the earthquake of October 8. According to yesterday's Telegraph, there are now seven individuals in custody in Pakistan, two of them British.

The fact that the charity money was sent to three individuals, rather than to known organisations, raised the suspicions of authorities in Britain and Pakistan. Both countries had, with US assistance, been following the progress of the plot since before July last year.

One of those who was arrested in Pakistan is 26-year old Rashid Rauf (pictured above right). He lived at an address in St Margaret's Road in Ward End, Birmingham. This address was a semi-detached house. In its back garden was an extension, which was used as an Islamic school. Rauf's younger Tayib Rauf, aged 21, has already been taken into custody in Britain and has had his assets frozen. The two brothers had shared the address.

The Telegraph states that Rashid Rauf had left Britain after he became a main suspect in a murder case. West Midlands police wan to talk to him concerning the murder of his uncle. 54-year old Mohammed Saeed was stabbed near his home in Alum Rock, Birmingham, in April 2002. As Britain and Pakistan have no extradition treaty, many Pakistani Britons flee to Pakistan following serious crimes, knowing they will not be returned to face justice.

The younger brother Tayib Rauf, states the Times, worked in the confectionery industry. The house had previously been searched after the killing of Mohammed Saeed, and again following the murder of the young black man Isaiah Young-Sam, murdered by Muslims during last year's Birmingham riots.

It was the arrest of Rashid Rauf in Baluchistan in Pakistan which led to the series of arrests in Britain. According to the Telegraph, Rauf was arrested outside an internet shop in Zhob. It was his frequent use of SMS text messages which caused him to be arrested, stated a Pakistani security official.

Rashid and Tayib both have links to the charity organisation Crescent Relief, states the Daily Mail. This organisation was set up with the assistance of their father, Abdul. There is no suggestion, the Mail says, that the charity is linked to the plot. Abdul Rauf is listed as a director of Crescent Relief, which is based in Dagenham in Essex.

Pakistani police sources are now claiming that some of the alleged plotters went to Pakistan after the earthquake to work as volunteers. And it is here that some of them received terror training at camps in the borderland between Pakistan and Afghanistan. The camps were run by Lashkar-e-Tayba, the "Army of the Pure". The founder of this terror group, Hafiz Mohammed Saeed, was placed under house arrest on August 10 by Pakistani authorities, on the same day that the terror plot was revealed.

The Times yesterday stated Saeed is to be questioned, to ascertain if he knew any of the 24 suspects. Pakistani police have been asked to find out if either of the two British suspects in their custody had attended the Markaz Taiba centre, which is run by Islamic charity Jamaat al-Dawat. This is the same "charity" Jamaat-ud-Dawah, which was founded by the Lashkar-e-Taiba leader and is based in Mudrike near Lahore. Jamaat ud-Dawah was designated as a terrorist entity by the US on April 28 this year.

Pakistan intelligence sources are suggesting that that there are links between those suspects who visited Pakistan last year and two of the 7/7 bombers, Mohammed Sidique Khan and Shehzad Tanweer.

There are claims that two of the current suspects were also trained in the use of explosives by an Al Qaeda instructor who has connections with various terror groups in the mountainous Waziristan borderlands which link Pakistan to Afghanistan. The instructor is 29-year-old Matiur Rehman (left). There are strong indications that this man actually masterminded the current air terror plot.

Rehman has a bounty of $175,000 on his head for two attempts at assassinating President Pervez Musharraf and for plotting attacks upon American interests in Karachi.

On March 2, prior to George W Bush's visit to Pakistan, a suicide car bomber killed a US diplomat, David Foy, in Karachi. The FBI believes that this attack was planned by Matiur Rehman.

Rehman is a Turkman who has reportedly said that he trained Western recruits. He is said to be an explosives expert who goes under various aliases, and was employed at the Khalden terror training camp and the Farooq at Khost. Richard Reid, the shoe bomber, is said to have been trained by him.

Rashid Rauf is said by the Pakistani authorities to have confessed to having met Matiur Rehman.

The Telegraph states that the five Pakistani men in custody in Pakistan are said to have been "facilitators", and are believed to be linked to the terrorist group Jaish-e-Mohammed, which is thought to have carried out the attack upon the Indian parliament in December 2001 and linked to the decapitation of US journalist Daniel Pearl.

The groups Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed provide safe houses, travel documents, cash, and other facilities to Al Qaeda and the Taliban, the Telegraph states, and also acts to facilitate the meetings with potential recruits.

In another article, the Telegraph describes the home life of the Rauf brothers in Birmingham, using accounts from those who knew them.

As well as Tayib and Rachid, there was at least two other brothers, who are aged 17 and 19, and a sister in the household. Tayib and Rachid Rauf attended Washwood Heath School. The family gave free Islamic classes in the school in the back garden.

A neighbour said: "They prayed five times a day and would trek over to the mosque at 5am every morning. They lived for Islam and were deeply religious, but peaceful."

Tayib left school at 16 to work in the family cake-making business, Classic Confectionery Supplies, and is said to have spent many hours in a delivery van. Other friends said he was often away from home, studying an "intense Islamic course" in Bury, Lancashire.

Birmingham city council claimed that the school at the back of the house may have to be pulled down, following complaints about it.

We mentioned earlier that many of the people arrested came from middle-class backgrounds. An article in today's Sunday Telegraph states that it seems that some of the suspects had been recruited while at universities.

Waheed Zaman, aged 22 and a biochemistry student, was head of the Islamic Society at London Metropolitan University. Material discovered at two portable buildings which were used by the Islamic Society include documents which advocate jihad and a pamphlet which describes how to deal with approaches from security services. Audi cassettes of sermons, made by Al Muhajiroun were also discovered in the buildings, which were used as a prayer room and a library.

Al Muhajiroun was founded by Omar Bakri Mohammed and gave rise to the extremist groups Al Ghurabaa and the Saved Sect, which were recently banned by the Home Secretary, John Reid. There is already a problem of extremist groups such as Hizb ut-Tahrir using univesity campuses to recruit. In November they were intimidating Muslim students at the University of Bradford for not being "pious" enough.

There is no evidence to prove Zaman had placed the extremist literature in the Islamic Society buildings at London Metropolitan University, and his family maintain his innocence.

Over the past 15 years, Islamic extremists have been operational in at least 20 universities, states Professor Anthony Glees, who is director of the centre for intelligence and security studies at Brunel University. Professor Glees criticised university managements as they "have not sought to address the problem: they have instead sought to undermine those who have raised the issue."

The Telegraph states that five of the suspects who were arrested in Britain attended jihadist training camps in Pakistan. It has already been noted that Pakistani authorities have said that some of those arrested had also recorded "martyrdom messages" which were to be used for al Qaeda propaganda.

Keyword: The name of the UK police operation on this plot is Operation Overt

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at August 13, 2006 9:44 AM

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