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January 8, 2008

UK: Muslim Dentist Jailed For "Preparing" Acts Of Terrorism

We reported on November 2, 2006 that a man then aged 29 appeared in City of Westminster Magistrates Court, accompanied by three security guards. He had been arrested on October 18 at Heathrow Airport preparing to board a flight to Islamabad in Pakistan.

He had been found with a large quantity of cash. Most of this was found in six separate envelopes secreted about his person. The clerk of court had said: "On October 18th 2006, at Heathrow Airport, with the intention of committing acts of terrorism or assisting another to commit such acts, engaged in conduct in preparation for giving effect to his intention, namely by preparing to take to Islamabad articles including £9,000 ($17,780) in cash, a night vision scope, two metal batons, two sleeping bags, two rucksacks and a disk and an external hard drive containing data including manuals detailing combat techniques and a copy of the Mujahideen Poison Handbook contrary to section 5(1) of the Terrorism Act 2006."

He was charged on three counts of terrorism, including "preparing for terrorism", a crime under Section Five of the Terrorism Act 2006. Additionally he was charged with possessing a list of articles, with a purpose of carrying out a possible terrorist act. Thirdly, he was charged with possessing the hard drive which had the "poisons Handbook", which were likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing terrorism.

News from the Press Association, AFP, CNN, BBC, AKI, the Independent, Sky News, the Guardian and the Times reports that today, Quereshi pleaded guilty on all three charges at London's Central Criminal Court (The Old Bailey).

He was subsequently sentenced to four and a half years' jail. He became the first person in Britain to be convicted of "preparing for terrorism". He had intended to fly to Pakistan to carry out acts of terrorism. Jonathan Sharp, prosecuting, said that he intended to engage in a "two- to three-week operation" either in Pakistan, Afghanistan or Waziristan. He claimed: "Sohail Qureshi is a dedicated supporter of Islamist extremism."

On an internet site, Quereshi had written "Pray that I kill many, brother. Revenge, revenge, revenge."

Quereshi had been in contact with 23-year old Samina Malik from Townsend Road, Southall, West London, who worked at news vendor W H Smith, based at Heathrow Airport. Malik liked to be known as the "Lyrical Terrorist". She sometimes signed herself as "Stranger Awaiting Martyrdom" in internet exchanges.

Malik was found guilty on November 8, 2007 on charges of owning terrorist manuals. She wrote tasteless poems, eulogising Osama bin Laden, violent jihad and beheadings. The judge in her Old Bailey trial, Peter Beaumont QC, claimed that Malik had been a "complete enigma". On a WH Smith till receipt she had written: "The desire within me increases every day to go for martyrdom." Malik had been the first person to be convicted under the Terrorism Act 2006. She had been arrested in October 2006, around the time Sohail Quereshi was arrested.

In a poem on beheading, Malik had written: "It's not as messy or as hard as some may think/ It's all about the flow of the wrist." She had literature from the group Ahl us-Sunnah Wal-Jammah, an offshoot of Omar Bakri's group Al Ghurabaa. On her computer she had documents entitled The Mujaheddin Poisoner's Handbook, Encyclopaedia of Jihad, How To Win In Hand To Hand Combat, How To Make Bombs and Sniper Manual. She belonged to a radical Islamist group called Jihad Way. Malik was sentenced in December 2007 to a nine month suspended sentence.

Quereshi, who was jailed today, had contacted Samina Malik to question the security at Heathrow Airport. He had written to her by email, stating: "Sis, I hope you get this email before anyone else. What is the system like at work? Is the checking still very harsh or have things calmed down a bit?"

Quereshi had been born in Pakistan. He had grown up in Saudi Arabia and had spent seven years living in Russia, where he qualified as a dentist. He arrived in Britain in 2004, apparently with no previous convictions. On the internet, he had claimed that he had been sent to Britain by Al Qaeda for the purposes of raising funds for terrorism.

He had lived in Palmerston Road in Forest Gate, East London. Quereshi had a shaved head, a goatee beard, and wore glasses. His significance as a potential terrorist is more that today he became the first person to be convicted under Section 5 (1) of the Terrorism Act, 2006, rather than any specific commission of terrorism.

Even though Samina Malik, his internet correspondent had expressed a desire for martyrdom, Dr Muhammad Abdul Bari, the secretary general of the (extremist-linked) Muslim Council of Britain had condemned Malik's conviction. He had said that police and prosecutors were penalizing Muslims for "having silly thoughts".

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at January 8, 2008 11:36 AM

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