BigBadBrian
03-22-2006, 07:47 PM
Gang 'plotted to buy atom bomb'
By Simon Freeman and agencies
A British terror cell with alleged links to al-Qaeda was involved in a plot to buy a nuclear bomb, the Old Bailey heard today.
Although the group was arrested before it had chosen a target, its members had the means to bomb gas and electricity supplies and discussed attacking nightclubs and the Bluewater shopping centre in Kent, the court was told.
On the second day of the trial of seven British men who are accused of planning a bombing campaign in the UK, David Waters, QC, prosecuting, said the group had amassed data and work experience to further their plot.
Salahuddin Amin, a 31-year-old from Luton, had information passed to him about an atomic weapon while he was at a terrorist camp in Pakistan, the court heard.
Mr Amin then set about trying to buy the device from the Russian mafia in Belgium after making contact over the internet, Mr Waters said.
Although Mr Amin later told police he did not think "that you can go and pick an atomic bomb up and use it", Mr Waters said the episode demonstrated the clout that the defendant held within terrorist circles.
"An indication as to the trust imposed in Amin and his position in the Pakistani end of the organisation is perhaps gained from the passing of information to him in relation to a radio isotope bomb," the QC said.
"Abu Munthir [whom he had once met in a Luton mosque] asked Amin to contact a man named Abu Annis on Munthir’s behalf. Amin did so via the internet and Abu Annis said they had made contact with the Russian mafia in Belgium and from the Mafia they were trying to buy this bomb."
"Nothing appears to have come of this. However, as I say, it perhaps gives an indication as to Amin’s position in, and his usefulness to, the organisation."
The group's attempt to buy a nuclear bomb was detailed as Mr Waters laid out a broad range of targets that the cell might have considered attacking.
The Old Bailey heard how a list of synagogues was found at a house in Crawley, West Sussex, where two of the defendants - brothers Omar Khyam and Shujah Mahmood - lived at the time of their arrest.
A dozen CDs containing detailed information about gas and electricity networks were allegedly found on the desk of Nabeel Hussain, another of the defendants, a former student at Brunel University. The fingerprints of Jawad Akbar, another defendant, were found on the disks.
Mr Waters said Waheed Mahmood, 34, the eldest defendant, represented another threat to Britain's electricity supply. Mr Mahmood started working for Morrisons Utility Services, a sub-contractor for Transco, the company that runs the national grid, in November 2003.
The CDs and Mr Mahmood's job both suggested that the group was thinking of bombing energy lines, Mr Waters told the court. He said that the discs contained information about electricity mains, oil pipelines and details of a "hazardous underground plant".
"Anyone armed with such information would have no difficulty identifying, in the context of this case, a potential target," Mr Waters told the jury. "If, for example, an attack were made against a high pressure main, many of which are clearly shown on the CDs, the damage and disruption caused would be very considerable."
Mr Waters also claimed that the defendants' conversations, recorded by the security services, shed light on their search for a suitable target. On March 1, 2004, Mr Akbar was recorded panicking to his wife as he searched for two of the CDs later found on Mr Hussain's desk, according to Mr Waters.
"They got Transco written on them... Transco. You know what? If we get raided today we’re finished," Mr Akbar was described as saying.
The court was also told that Mr Akbar believed London nightspots were a tempting target: "The biggest nightclub in Central London, no one can put their hands up and say they are innocent - those slags dancing around," he is alleged to have said.
On March, 19, 2004, Mr Mahmood was recorded suggesting an impromptu bombing of the Bluewater shopping centre in Kent, the largest shopping mall in Europe.
"A little explosion at Bluewater - tomorrow if you want", he is alleged to have said. "Is it worth getting all the brothers together tonight and asking who would be ready to go?"
The accused are: Salahuddin Amin, 31, of Luton; Shujah Mahmood, 18, and his brother, Omar Khyam, 24, Jawad Akbar, 22, and Waheed Mahmoud, 34, all of Crawley; West Sussex; Anthony Garcia, 27, of Ilford, East London; and Nabeel Hussain, 20, from Horley, Surrey. All deny conspiring to cause an explosion likely to endanger life, between October 2003 and March 2004.
Mr Khyam, Mr Garcia and Mr Hussain also deny possessing 600kg of fertiliser, containing ammonium nitrate, for the purposes of terrorism. Mr Khyam and Shujah Mahmood deny possessing aluminium powder, also for the purpose of terrorism.
The trial continues.
Link (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-2098313_2,00.html)
By Simon Freeman and agencies
A British terror cell with alleged links to al-Qaeda was involved in a plot to buy a nuclear bomb, the Old Bailey heard today.
Although the group was arrested before it had chosen a target, its members had the means to bomb gas and electricity supplies and discussed attacking nightclubs and the Bluewater shopping centre in Kent, the court was told.
On the second day of the trial of seven British men who are accused of planning a bombing campaign in the UK, David Waters, QC, prosecuting, said the group had amassed data and work experience to further their plot.
Salahuddin Amin, a 31-year-old from Luton, had information passed to him about an atomic weapon while he was at a terrorist camp in Pakistan, the court heard.
Mr Amin then set about trying to buy the device from the Russian mafia in Belgium after making contact over the internet, Mr Waters said.
Although Mr Amin later told police he did not think "that you can go and pick an atomic bomb up and use it", Mr Waters said the episode demonstrated the clout that the defendant held within terrorist circles.
"An indication as to the trust imposed in Amin and his position in the Pakistani end of the organisation is perhaps gained from the passing of information to him in relation to a radio isotope bomb," the QC said.
"Abu Munthir [whom he had once met in a Luton mosque] asked Amin to contact a man named Abu Annis on Munthir’s behalf. Amin did so via the internet and Abu Annis said they had made contact with the Russian mafia in Belgium and from the Mafia they were trying to buy this bomb."
"Nothing appears to have come of this. However, as I say, it perhaps gives an indication as to Amin’s position in, and his usefulness to, the organisation."
The group's attempt to buy a nuclear bomb was detailed as Mr Waters laid out a broad range of targets that the cell might have considered attacking.
The Old Bailey heard how a list of synagogues was found at a house in Crawley, West Sussex, where two of the defendants - brothers Omar Khyam and Shujah Mahmood - lived at the time of their arrest.
A dozen CDs containing detailed information about gas and electricity networks were allegedly found on the desk of Nabeel Hussain, another of the defendants, a former student at Brunel University. The fingerprints of Jawad Akbar, another defendant, were found on the disks.
Mr Waters said Waheed Mahmood, 34, the eldest defendant, represented another threat to Britain's electricity supply. Mr Mahmood started working for Morrisons Utility Services, a sub-contractor for Transco, the company that runs the national grid, in November 2003.
The CDs and Mr Mahmood's job both suggested that the group was thinking of bombing energy lines, Mr Waters told the court. He said that the discs contained information about electricity mains, oil pipelines and details of a "hazardous underground plant".
"Anyone armed with such information would have no difficulty identifying, in the context of this case, a potential target," Mr Waters told the jury. "If, for example, an attack were made against a high pressure main, many of which are clearly shown on the CDs, the damage and disruption caused would be very considerable."
Mr Waters also claimed that the defendants' conversations, recorded by the security services, shed light on their search for a suitable target. On March 1, 2004, Mr Akbar was recorded panicking to his wife as he searched for two of the CDs later found on Mr Hussain's desk, according to Mr Waters.
"They got Transco written on them... Transco. You know what? If we get raided today we’re finished," Mr Akbar was described as saying.
The court was also told that Mr Akbar believed London nightspots were a tempting target: "The biggest nightclub in Central London, no one can put their hands up and say they are innocent - those slags dancing around," he is alleged to have said.
On March, 19, 2004, Mr Mahmood was recorded suggesting an impromptu bombing of the Bluewater shopping centre in Kent, the largest shopping mall in Europe.
"A little explosion at Bluewater - tomorrow if you want", he is alleged to have said. "Is it worth getting all the brothers together tonight and asking who would be ready to go?"
The accused are: Salahuddin Amin, 31, of Luton; Shujah Mahmood, 18, and his brother, Omar Khyam, 24, Jawad Akbar, 22, and Waheed Mahmoud, 34, all of Crawley; West Sussex; Anthony Garcia, 27, of Ilford, East London; and Nabeel Hussain, 20, from Horley, Surrey. All deny conspiring to cause an explosion likely to endanger life, between October 2003 and March 2004.
Mr Khyam, Mr Garcia and Mr Hussain also deny possessing 600kg of fertiliser, containing ammonium nitrate, for the purposes of terrorism. Mr Khyam and Shujah Mahmood deny possessing aluminium powder, also for the purpose of terrorism.
The trial continues.
Link (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-2098313_2,00.html)