3 British Muslims go on trial over alleged terrorist plot
Source: Agencies |
October 23, 2012, Tuesday
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THREE British Muslim men went on trial in London yesterday, accused of plotting a bombing campaign that prosecutors say could have been deadlier than the London transit attacks.
Prosecutors say Irfan Khalid and Ashik Ali, both 27, and 31-year-old Irfan Naseer were part of a plot to mount a terrorist attack "on a scale potentially greater than the London bombings in July 2005."
Fifty-two commuters were killed when four al-Qaida-inspired suicide bombers blew themselves up on London's bus and subway network on July 7.
The suspects are among a group of men and one woman arrested in September 2011 in Birmingham. All three are charged with preparing for terrorism by plotting a bombing campaign, recruiting others and fundraising. They have pleaded not guilty.
Prosecutor Brian Altman said yesterday the three were central figures in a plan to detonate up to eight knapsack bombs in a suicide attack, or to explode timer bombs in crowded areas.
Altman said Naseer and Khalid traveled to Pakistan for terror training, where they learned details of poisons, bombmaking and weapons use and made "martyrdom videos" justifying their planned attacks.
On their return in July 2011, he said, they began to recruit others to the plot and to raise money by posing as fundraisers for Muslim charities. Altman accused the men of "despicably stealing from their own community" to fund their plot.
They also began experimenting with chemicals "to make an explosive mixture for use in an improvised explosive device," the prosecutor said, aided by Naseer's academic background, who has a degree in pharmacy.
Many of the group's plans soon went awry, however.
Rahin Ahmed, an alleged co-conspirator described in court as the cell's "chief financier," attempted to increase the group's budget by trading the money it had made through bogus charity fundraising on the currency-exchange market.
He lost the bulk of the money through his "unwise and incompetent" commodities trading, the prosecutor said.
The trial is expected to last for several weeks.
Prosecutors say Irfan Khalid and Ashik Ali, both 27, and 31-year-old Irfan Naseer were part of a plot to mount a terrorist attack "on a scale potentially greater than the London bombings in July 2005."
Fifty-two commuters were killed when four al-Qaida-inspired suicide bombers blew themselves up on London's bus and subway network on July 7.
The suspects are among a group of men and one woman arrested in September 2011 in Birmingham. All three are charged with preparing for terrorism by plotting a bombing campaign, recruiting others and fundraising. They have pleaded not guilty.
Prosecutor Brian Altman said yesterday the three were central figures in a plan to detonate up to eight knapsack bombs in a suicide attack, or to explode timer bombs in crowded areas.
Altman said Naseer and Khalid traveled to Pakistan for terror training, where they learned details of poisons, bombmaking and weapons use and made "martyrdom videos" justifying their planned attacks.
On their return in July 2011, he said, they began to recruit others to the plot and to raise money by posing as fundraisers for Muslim charities. Altman accused the men of "despicably stealing from their own community" to fund their plot.
They also began experimenting with chemicals "to make an explosive mixture for use in an improvised explosive device," the prosecutor said, aided by Naseer's academic background, who has a degree in pharmacy.
Many of the group's plans soon went awry, however.
Rahin Ahmed, an alleged co-conspirator described in court as the cell's "chief financier," attempted to increase the group's budget by trading the money it had made through bogus charity fundraising on the currency-exchange market.
He lost the bulk of the money through his "unwise and incompetent" commodities trading, the prosecutor said.
The trial is expected to last for several weeks.
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