Muslim gang 'plotted to blow up Ministry of Sound'

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Gang 'plotted to blow up Ministry of Sound'

An alleged al-Qa'eda terrorist cell discussed blowing up the Ministry of Sound nightclub to take revenge on "those slags dancing around", a jury heard yesterday.

Top, from left: Jawad Akbar, Omar Khyam and Shujah Mahmood.
Bottom, from left: Salahuddin Amin, Anthony Garcia and Waheed Mahmood

Pictures of six of the seven alleged British terrorists were released for the first time as the court heard a covert recording made by MI5 in the student flat occupied by Jawad Akbar in Uxbridge, west London.

Akbar, then 20 and studying at Brunel University, suggested ta
rgeting bars and added: "The biggest nightclub in central London where no one can even turn around and say 'oh they were innocent', those slags dancing around and other things."

Apparently referring to the September 11 2001 attacks on America, he added: "Trust me, then you will get the public talking 'cause they targeted economics, yeah, but if you went for the social structure where every Tom, Dick and Harry goes on a Saturday night, yeah, that would be crazy, crazy thing."

Omar Khyam, one of the leaders of the gang, asked him: "If you got a job in a bar, yeah, say the Ministry of Sound, what are you planning to do there then?"

Akbar told him: "Blow the whole thing up."

Referring to the Bali nightclub bomb, he added: "I mean if you got that done in this country, yeah bruv, that would shock them. I'm talking about England is supposed to be the centre of everything, isn't it, in the world right now.

''Whenever you talk about it the British are so proud of it, when
you think of it every single person goes, London supposed to be the highlight, yeah. Look at their security, it's crap, it's a joke." He apparently added: "You think, why aren't we attacking it?"

Khyam told him: "You have a proper plan, simultaneous, it's got to be big and effective."

Akbar said: "Our purpose is to defend the honour of the Muslim, yeah, and bring the Islamic state back because if the Islamic state were here then the problems would not be there."

The two men, both from Crawley, West Sussex, were discussing leaving their wives and families behind and whether Akbar was ready to join Khyam fighting Jihad in Pakistan.

Khyam said he believed Britain was a kufr [heathen] country and added: "You see things different, but me, it's just nothing, they just need to be killed and blood spilled. To me this is clear.

''The verse says lay in ambush for them, besiege them and kill them when you find them, to me that's just clear, kill them."

Quoting the
Koran, Akbar said: "The best thing you can do is put terror in their hearts, there is no doubt, there is nothing better than that. We put fear in their hearts."

Khyam warned him to talk to those "running the Jihad [Holy War]" at the top in Pakistan and added: "So now in England, imagine you do something and there's brothers here you could jeopardise them, so it's better to consult those who are running the Jihad. There's a structure so work within the structure."

He added: "It's waiting bro. . . everyone's ready now, innit."

The pair also talked of other targets, including water, electricity and telecommunications but Khyam said it would have to be a "such a big explosion that hundreds of people died".

The Ministry of Sound was founded by James Palumbo, the son of Lord Palumbo in south London in 1991.

It was described as Britain's "most profitable club" with three bars and a VIP area, a capacity of 2,200, and a mixture of white, black, and Asian clubbers, includ
ing many tourists.

Gary Smart, the general manager, said: "If the nightclub was to be the subject of a terrorist attack it is clear the consequences could be devastating.

"With such a large number of people in a confined space it could lead to large loss of life, injury and structural damage."

It is claimed the gang were planning to use half a ton of ammonium nitrate stored in a lock-up in north west London for a homemade bomb.

Omar Khyam, 24, his brother Shujah ud din Mahmood, 19, Jawad Akbar, 22, Nabeel Hussain, 21, and Waheed Mahmood, 34, all from Crawley, West Sussex along with Anthony Garcia, 24, from Ilford, Essex, and Salahuddin Amin, 31, from Luton, Beds, all deny conspiracy to cause explosions.

The trial continues.

 

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'Bomb plot' jurors shown footage

An Old Bailey jury has been shown video footage of a man entering a storage unit linked to an alleged bomb plot.
The police footage shows Omar Khyam entering a storage depot in west London where a 600kg bag of fertiliser was stored, in March 2004, jurors heard.

It shows Mr Khyam in the unit for a few minutes inspecting the bag, they heard.

Prosecutors say the fertiliser was to be made into explosives but Mr Khyam and six other defendants in the case deny conspiring to cause explosions.

The trial has been running since March but this is the first time the jury has been shown pictures of what the prosecution said was one of the defendants with the fertiliser.

nDuring the two-and-a-half minute-long footage, Mr Khyam appears to walk into the room, peer into the bag and have a look at the side of it.

He bends to mark the point where the powder came up to in the bag, fearing it might be tampered with, the prosecution said.

The court has been told police and secret services had been watching Mr Khyam and others suspected of being part of a British al-Qaeda cell.

Unknown to Mr Khyam, they had already replaced the volatile fertiliser with a safe substance, jurors heard.

Workers at Access Storage in Hanwell, west London, where the fertiliser was stored, had alerted police after becoming suspicious.

Mr Khyam was tracked by MI5 surveillance and anti-terrorist branch for six weeks.

All the defendants were arrested on 30 March 2004.

Mr Akbar, 22, Mr Khyam, 24, and his brother Shujah Mahmood, 19, and Waheed Mahmood, 34, all of Crawley, West Sussex, Salahuddin Amin, 31, of Luton, Beds, Anthony Garcia, 23, of Ilford, east L
ondon, and Nabeel Hussain, 21, of Horley, Surrey, are accused of conspiring to cause explosions likely to endanger life between 1 January, 2003 and 31 March, 2004.

Mr Khyam, Mr Garcia and Mr Hussain also deny a charge under the Terrorism Act of possessing 600kg (1,300lb) of ammonium nitrate fertiliser for terrorism.

Mr Khyam and Shujah Mahmood further deny possessing aluminium powder for terrorism.

 

[veritas1616]

VERDICT JUST DELIVERED....5 GUILTY


Five men have been convicted of an al-Qaeda-linked bomb plot in Britain which could have killed hundreds. Jurors in the massive year-long Old Bailey trial, heard of plans to target a shopping centre, nightclub and the gas network with a fertiliser bomb.
Police smashed the plot in 2004 after MI5 had watched an Islamist extremist network with links across the world.
The unprecedented investigation also linked back to senior al-Qaeda figures in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Two other men, Nabeel Hussain and Shujah Mahmood, were found not guilty.

 

[veritas1616]

UPDATE

Men convicted over UK bomb plot

Bluewater shopping centre in Kent was mooted as a possible target

Five men have been convicted of a bomb plot linked to al-Qaeda that could have killed hundreds of people in Britain. Jurors in the massive year-long Old Bailey trial heard of plans to target a shopping centre, nightclub and the gas network with a fertiliser bomb.
Police smashed the plot in 2004 after MI5 had watched an Islamist extremist network with links across the world.
It has also been revealed some of the plotters met two of the 7 July London suicide bombers.

GUILTY OF CONSPIRACY TO CAUSE EXPLOSIONS: FULL PROFILES OF THE MEN

Jawad Akbar, 23
Omar Khyam, 26
Salahuddin Amin, 32
Anthony Garcia, 24
Waheed Mahmood, 35
The indictment in full
The link to 7 July


Mohammed Sidique Khan was spotted on four occasions in 2004 with at least one of the conspirators. At one point MI5 officers followed Khan back to his home in Leeds but no further action was taken.
Because of their workload and other cases having immediate priority in 2004, MI5 did not monitor him as he was not considered a risk. A year later Khan would lead the bombers who killed 52 people in the London attacks.
In the wake of the convictions both the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats have both called for an independent inquiry into the 7 July link.
The link with 7 July was deliberately kept from the Old Bailey jury for fear of prejudicing their deliberations on the fertiliser bomb plot.
Al-Qaeda link
The unprecedented investigation also linked back to senior al-Qaeda figures in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Omar Khyam, 26, from Crawley, West Sussex, was found guilty of conspiring to cause explosions likely to endanger life between 1 January 2003 and 31 March 2004.

The ingredients of the bomb were found in this lock-up in west London


Also convicted were Waheed Mahmood, 34, and Jawad Akbar, 23, also of Crawley; Salahuddin Amin, 31, from Luton, Bedfordshire; Anthony Garcia, 24, of Barkingside, east London.
The men, all British citizens, face life sentences.
Two other men, Nabeel Hussain and Shujah Mahmood, were found not guilty.
Home Secretary John Reid said: "Five dangerous terrorists are now behind bars thanks to the hard work of our police and security services...Today's case reminds us all that the terrorist threat we face is real and severe."
In one of the largest terrorism trials ever brought before the British courts, the Old Bailey heard the plotters had come together over a number of years.
The men had started out sympathetic to Muslim causes around the world - but the key plotters decided that violence was the answer as they came together for secret military training camps in Pakistan.
Back in Britain, they discussed various schemes, including targeting the Bluewater shopping centre in Kent on a busy Saturday or the Ministry of Sound nightclub in central London.
They also talked of attacking the gas or electricity network and Prime Minister's Questions in Parliament.
Tip-off
The group had bought 600kg (95 stone) of ammonium nitrate from an agricultural merchants and kept it at a storage unit in Hanwell, west London.

This fertiliser was to be the key component in the massive bomb - similar to those used in other terrorism attacks around the world.
But unbeknown to the men, some of them were already on MI5's radar while, at the same time, staff at the storage unit tipped off police.
They replaced the ammonium nitrate with a harmless substance and kept the group under surveillance before swooping in a series of raids.
David Waters QC, prosecuting, said the bomb, or bombs, would have been used "at the very least to destroy a strategic plant within the United Kingdom, or more realistically to kill and injure citizens of the UK".
The Old Bailey heard the defendants had had at least two fellow conspirators.
One of them, an American called Mohammed Junaid Babar, admitted his role in the plot after being arrested by the FBI and became a vital prosecution witness.
The other was Mohammed Momin Khawaja, awaiting trial in Canada.

 

[veritas1616]

SENTENCED

Five men have been jailed for life for a UK bomb plot linked to al-Qaeda that could have killed hundreds of people. Jurors in the year-long Old Bailey trial heard of plans to target a shopping centre, nightclub and the gas network with a giant fertiliser bomb.
The judge, Sir Michael Astill, said the men, all British citizens, had "betrayed their country".
It has also been revealed some of the plotters met two of the 7 July London suicide bombers.

GUILTY OF CONSPIRACY TO CAUSE EXPLOSIONS: FULL PROFILES OF THE MEN

Omar Khyam, 25 - jailed for life (40 years minimum)

Jawad Akbar, 23 - jailed for life (35 years minimum)

Salahuddin Amin, 32 - jailed for life (35 years minimum)

Waheed Mahmood, 35 - jailed for life (40 years minimum)

Anthony Garcia, 24 - jailed for life (40 years minimum)


Mohammed Sidique Khan was spotted on four occasions in 2004 with at least one of the fertiliser bomb conspirators. At one point MI5 officers followed Khan back to his home in Leeds but no further action was taken.
In the wake of the convictions both the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats have both called for an independent inquiry into the 7 July link.
The call for an inquiry was echoed by Graham Foulkes, whose son David died in the 7 July attacks. He said an inquiry was needed so "lessons could be learned".
The new director general of MI5, Jonathan Evans, issued a statement in which he denied being "complacent" and added: "The attack on 7 July in London was a terrible event. The sense of disappointment, felt across the service, at not being able to prevent the attack (despite our efforts to prevent all such atrocities) will always be with us."
He added: "The Security Service will never have the capacity to investigate everyone who appears on the periphery of every operation."

Britain's top anti-terrorist policeman, Deputy Assistant Commissioner Peter Clarke, said: "This was not a group of youthful idealists. They were trained, dedicated, ruthless terrorists who were obviously planning to carry out an attack against the British public."
Police smashed the plot in 2004 after MI5 had watched an Islamist extremist network with links across the world.
The link with 7 July was deliberately kept from the Old Bailey jury for fear of prejudicing their deliberations on the fertiliser bomb plot.
Al-Qaeda link
The fertiliser bomb plot investigation linked back to senior al-Qaeda figures in Pakistan and Afghanistan, including one who was detained by US forces in Iraq at the weekend.
Omar Khyam, 25, from Crawley, West Sussex, was found guilty of conspiring to cause explosions likely to endanger life between 1 January 2003 and 31 March 2004.

Also convicted were Waheed Mahmood, 34, and Jawad Akbar, 23, also of Crawley; Salahuddin Amin, 31, from Luton, Bedfordshire; Anthony Garcia, 24, of Barkingside, east London.
The judge told them: "You have betrayed this country that has given you every opportunity."
He also warned them: "All of you may never be released. It's not a foregone conclusion."
Two other men, Nabeel Hussain and Shujah Mahmood, were found not guilty.
Home Secretary John Reid said: "Five dangerous terrorists are now behind bars thanks to the hard work of our police and security services...Today's case reminds us all that the terrorist threat we face is real and severe."
In one of the largest terrorism trials ever brought before the British courts, the Old Bailey heard the plotters had come together over a number of years.

The men had started out sympathetic to Muslim causes around the world - but the key plotters decided that violence was the answer as they came together for secret military training camps in Pakistan.
Back in Britain, they discussed various schemes, including targeting the Bluewater shopping centre in Kent on a busy Saturday or the Ministry of Sound nightclub in central London.
They also talked of attacking the gas or electricity network and Prime Minister's Questions in Parliament.
Tip-off
The group had bought 600kg of ammonium nitrate from an agricultural merchants and kept it at a storage unit in Hanwell, west London.
This fertiliser was to be the key component in the massive bomb - similar to those used in other terrorism attacks around the world.
But unbeknown to the men, some of them were already on MI5's radar while, at the same time, staff at the storage unit tipped off police.
They replaced the ammonium nitrate with a harmless substance and kept the group under surveillance before swooping in a series of raids.

Key witness
The Old Bailey heard the defendants had at least two fellow conspirators.
One of them, an American called Mohammed Junaid Babar, admitted his role in the plot after being arrested by the FBI and became a vital prosecution witness.
The other was Mohammed Momin Khawaja, awaiting trial in Canada.
The jury deliberated for 27 days, a record in British criminal history.
A Crown Prosecution Service spokesman said the deal allowing Babar to testify was unprecedented in British courts.
Outside court a solicitor read out a statement on behalf of Nabeel Hussain. He said: " I have always maintained my innocence of the allegations against me. I have never been an extremist or believed in extremism... I am so glad this ordeal is over."

 

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Omar Khyam, 25 - jailed for life (40 years minimum)

Jawad Akbar, 23 - jailed for life (35 years minimum)

Salahuddin Amin, 32 - jailed for life (35 years minimum)

Waheed Mahmood, 35 - jailed for life (40 years minimum)

Anthony Garcia, 24 - jailed for life (40 years minimum)

Sky News are reporting shorter sentences

Khyam, Garcia and Waheed Mahmood were told they would serve at least 20 years, while Amin and Akbar were told they would have to serve a minimum of 17 and a half years.

link

 

[veritas1616]

The mastermind behind the plot lives freely in Luton...only in England!!!


Questions over 'plot mastermind'

Mohammed Qayum Khan: named in court

A man named in court as a facilitator of terrorism in the UK is living freely in England, the BBC can reveal. Evidence in the trial of five men jailed for a homemade bomb plot alleged some were working for a senior figure with links to al-Qaeda.
In the unprecedented fertiliser bomb trial, the jury heard a Luton-based man played a key role in sending a 7 Ju
ly suicide bomber for military training.
Counter-terrorism chiefs have refused to discuss the man, codenamed "Q".

WHO IS Q?
Real name Mohammed Qayum Khan
Based in Luton
Allegedly acted as "facilitator"
Allegedly sent London suicide bomber to Pakistan
Q refused BBC interview requests
Told a newspaper he had been a charity worker
Watched by MI5 in 2003
Police refuse to discuss him


On Monday five men were jailed for life for a 2003-04 plot to build a massive bomb out of fertiliser to use on a target in southern England.
In a record-breaking year-long trial, the Old Bailey heard that the
plot's key figures trained with Mujahideen figures in Pakistan. The ringleader of the plot, Omar Khyam, had personal contacts with a senior Al Qaeda figure, now in Guantanamo Bay.
But evidence in the trial also pointed to links between the fertiliser bomb plotters, the 7/7 suicide bombers and a Luton man called Mohammed Qayum Khan.
A part-time taxi driver, Qayum Khan is alleged to have direct links to al-Qaeda figures as part of a broad international "jihadi" network established to facilitate support for causes including the Taleban and Kashmiri separatists.
MI5 lead
According to evidence in the trial, MI5 officers discovered the fertiliser bomb plotters after seeing ringleader Omar Khyam in secret meetings with "Q". The last of these was in Southall in west London, shortly before police arrested the plotters.
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/40947000/jpg/_40947040_khan203_1.jpg[/IMG
] Suicide bomber: Sent to Pakistan by Q, according to evidence

[/SIZE]
[SIZE=2]During the trial it was alleged that Q was a senior inspiring figure for the fertiliser bomb plotters, linking them with military trainers in the Pakistani and Afghan mujahideen. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=2]It was also alleged that he organised fund raising in the UK to send cash to the Taleban or other jihadi groups. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=2]But Qayum Khan, it was also alleged, sent London suicide bomber Mohammad Sidique Khan to Pakistan in July 2003 - a trip which saw him join paramilitary training with other British extremists. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=2]In the trial, it was alleged that Q was a key rallying figure for a growing band of Islamist extremists in the wake of the 9/11 attacks as Luton emerged as a secret powerbase for "jihadi" ideology and activism. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=2]Two Luton men who died in fighting in Afghanistan after the 2001 al-Qaeda attacks on the US lived in the same road as Q. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=2]The tax
i driver is also alleged to have had strong ties with another of the jailed fertiliser bomb plotters. Salahuddin Amin, who was living in Pakistan at the time of his arrest, acted as a reciprocal facilitator, receiving money, men and equipment and sending them on to Mujahideen, al-Qaeda or Taleban groups. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=2][B]Requests for interviews [/B] [/SIZE]
[SIZE=2]BBC teams have approached Mohammed Qayum Khan on more than one occasion for an interview or response to the allegations made against him in court. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=2]The BBC's Newsnight team were forcibly thrown out of a cafe in the town centre after identifying Q as eating there and approaching him for comment. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=2]He appears to be no longer living at his home address after approaches from the BBC's Panorama programme. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=2]The Daily Telegraph has also approached Q for an interview. He told the newspaper he knew Omar Khyam and Mohammad Sidique Khan - but only through attempts to raise money for poor people in Paki
stan. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=2]Deputy Assistant Commissioner Peter Clarke of the Metropolitan Police refused to discuss Q when asked about his role in the fertiliser bomb plot or in alleged wider jihadi activity. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=2]"I know who 'Q' is but I'm not going to discuss who he is or what he is, or what he does," said DAC Clarke. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=2]"Decisions are made during the course of investigation based upon the evidence that's available, and the decision as to who should be arrested based entirely upon what evidence is available at the time." [/SIZE]

 

[veritas1616]

Sky News are reporting shorter sentences

Khyam, Garcia and Waheed Mahmood were told they would serve at least 20 years, while Amin and Akbar were told they would have to serve a minimum of 17 and a half years.

link

88....I have been attempting to clarify these conflicting sentences. Something is going very wrong. There has not been a mention of the discrepancy in sentence length in the MSM. What the hell is going on?

 

[Rasp]

The Daily Mail

Defence lawyers run up £7.1m legal aid bill for terror trial (paid by you)

Defence lawyers ran up a £7.1million legal aid bill in Britain's most expensive terror trial, the Daily Mail can reveal.

The figure was accrued during the trial of seven men accused of plotting a massive atrocity.

And a series of extraordinary delays resulted in the Old Bailey trial lasting three times longer than expected. It was scheduled to take four months – but, at huge expense to the taxpayer, ended up lasting more than a year. The case was held up for two days when a jury member's hearing aid broke and his consultant was out of the country.

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2009/03/01/article-1158355-049FC
0EF0000044D-612_468x404.jpg

The trial that took more than a year: (Top, from left) Jawad Akbar, Omar Khyam, Shujah Mahmood; (bottom, from left) Salahuddin Amin, Anthony Garcia and Waheed Mahmood, who are all members of an alleged terror cell on trial at the Old Bailey​

The judge, Sir Michael Astill, who also wears a hearing aid, had to give the juror the phone number of his own specialist to get the trial moving again. The judge had wanted to sit earlier each day but childcare problems meant one juror could not be in court before 10.30am for most of the trial.

During the month of Ramadan the court could sit for only three and a half hours a day because the defendants could not drink water or eat food in daylight hours and 'might lose concentration'. :rolleyes2:

Proceedings took so long that jurors were allowed two weeks off both at Christmas and Easter for holiday, losing an entire month. On returning after the summer break, the trial wa
s held up for a week while barristers argued over phone evidence.

Jurors were also given time off to visit St Paul's Cathedral on the anniversary of the London bombings, while Judge Astill asked for the court to be adjourned so he could talk to his grandchildren on his birthday.

The jury took 27 days to reach decisions – the longest ever deliberation at the Old Bailey.

In the end, five men from the same Al Qaeda cell as the London bombers were convicted of plotting what would have been Britain's biggest ever mass murder.

Omar Khyam, 25, Waheed Mahmood, 35, Anthony Garcia, 25, Salahuddin Amin, 32, and student Jawad Akbar, 23, were all found guilty in April 2007. Shujah Mahmood, 20, and Nabeel Hussain, 22, were cleared.

The Old Bailey heard that 'fertiliser bombers' were poised to kill hundreds, at a packed nightclub or shopping centre, with a
massive device made for just £100 from half a ton of ammonium nitrate and aluminium powder.

Opening the case, David Waters, QC, prosecuting, took £7.1m three days to give just a brief summary of Britain's longestever terror trial from an 84- page opening note. The prosecution called 101 witnesses while dozens of statements were read in court.

The star witness, Al Qaeda supergrass Mohammed Junaid Babar, was on the stand for 17 days, while defendant Jawad Akbar gave evidence for almost two weeks. At times the trial seemed to be cursed. Sickness hit the jury causing further delays. One juror took so much time off barristers asked for him to be discharged from hearing the case, but Judge Astill refused.

Among the beneficiaries of the legal aid bonanza was Leftwing defence barrister Michael Mansfield, QC, nicknamed 'Moneybags' because of his huge fees. The la
w firm run by controversial solicitor Mudassar Arani received £273,000 as it initially represented a defendant. Details of the huge legal aid bill were released by the Legal Services Commission.

A spokesman said: 'The case was unprecedented in its nature and volume of evidence, including 3,644 witness statements and 105 prosecution witnesses.

'The decision to grant legal aid in criminal cases is made by the court after applying an "interests of justice test", which considers a number of factors, including whether an individual is likely to lose their liberty and the complexity of the case. The court applies the test objectively.

'Following the court's decision to grant funding, the Legal Services Commission then managed the seven cases under special contract arrangements. These arrangements ensure that work undertaken by defence teams is effectively planned and costs are controlled throughout the case.'

The most expensive trial in British legal history was the Jubilee Li
ne corruption case, which collapsed in 2005 after defence lawyers ran up a £14million legal aid bill.