A member of a gang of al-Qaeda-linked terrorists plotting attacks on Britain had attempted to buy a radioactive dirty bomb, a prosecutor told a jury trying seven men on terrorism charges on Wednesday.
Salahuddin Amin, 31, contacted an intermediary about the purchase of a radioisotope bomb and was told it could be supplied by Russian mafia criminals based in Belgium, prosecutor David Waters told London's Central Criminal Court.
Waters said Amin had been instructed to carry out negotiations by a man he had met at alleged terrorist training camps in Pakistan.
Amin and six other men are accused of conspiring to cause explosions and had drawn up a long list of potential bombing targets, including Britain's electricity network, one of London's biggest nightclubs and one of the country's largest shopping malls.
Omar Khyam, 24, Anthony Garcia, 24, Nabel Hussain, 20, Jawad Akbar, 22, Waheed Mahmood, 33, Shujah ud Din Mahmood, 19, and Amin, all deny the charge and face life imprisonment if convicted.
Waters said nothing came of the group's interest in a radioisotope bomb and that, in a police interview, Amin said he didn't think it was likely "you can go and pick an atomic bomb up and use it."
Britain's security services and anti-terrorism police put the men under surveillance in February 2004, recording a conversation during which Akbar proposed attacks on "gas, water or electrical supplies," or a large nightclub, Waters told the jury.
"As he [Akbar] put it, `the biggest nightclub in central London, no one can put their hands up and say they are innocent -- those slags [sluts] dancing around,'" Waters told London's Central Criminal Court.
Listening devices recorded Waheed Mahmood suggesting a "little explosion at Bluewater -- tomorrow if you want," referring to the Bluewater shopping mall in Kent, southern England, one of the biggest retail centers in the country.
In a raid on the home of Khyam and his brother, Shujah ud Din Mahmood, police recovered a list of synagogues in London and Manchester, Northern England, which were also potential targets, Waters said.
He said that during a raid on Hussain's flat at Brunel University, in London, police seized CD ROMs which contained detailed plans of Britain's electricity and gas supply network, oil pipelines and high voltage cables.
In any attack on a gas main -- locations of which were on the discs -- the "damage and destruction would be very considerable," Waters said.
ELECTION DISTRACTION? When attention shifted away from the fight against the militants to politics, losses and setbacks in the battlefield increased, an analyst said Recent clashes in Somalia’s semi-autonomous Jubaland region are alarming experts, exposing cracks in the country’s federal system and creating an opening for militant group al-Shabaab to gain ground. Following years of conflict, Somalia is a loose federation of five semi-autonomous member states — Puntland, Jubaland, Galmudug, Hirshabelle and South West — that maintain often fractious relations with the central government in the capital, Mogadishu. However, ahead of elections next year, Somalia has sought to assert control over its member states, which security analysts said has created gaps for al-Shabaab infiltration. Last week, two Somalian soldiers were killed in clashes between pro-government forces and
Ten cheetah cubs held in captivity since birth and destined for international wildlife trade markets have been rescued in Somaliland, a breakaway region of Somalia. They were all in stable condition despite all of them having been undernourished and limping due to being tied in captivity for months, said Laurie Marker, founder of the Cheetah Conservation Fund, which is caring for the cubs. One eight-month-old cub was unable to walk after been tied up for six months, while a five-month-old was “very malnourished [a bag of bones], with sores all over her body and full of botfly maggots which are under the
BRUSHED OFF: An ambassador to Australia previously said that Beijing does not see a reason to apologize for its naval exercises and military maneuvers in international areas China set off alarm bells in New Zealand when it dispatched powerful warships on unprecedented missions in the South Pacific without explanation, military documents showed. Beijing has spent years expanding its reach in the southern Pacific Ocean, courting island nations with new hospitals, freshly paved roads and generous offers of climate aid. However, these diplomatic efforts have increasingly been accompanied by more overt displays of military power. Three Chinese warships sailed the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand in February, the first time such a task group had been sighted in those waters. “We have never seen vessels with this capability
‘NO INTEGRITY’: The chief judge expressed concern over how the sentence would be perceived given that military detention is believed to be easier than civilian prison A military court yesterday sentenced a New Zealand soldier to two years’ detention for attempting to spy for a foreign power. The soldier, whose name has been suppressed, admitted to attempted espionage, accessing a computer system for a dishonest purpose and knowingly possessing an objectionable publication. He was ordered into military detention at Burnham Military Camp near Christchurch and would be dismissed from the New Zealand Defence Force at the end of his sentence. His admission and its acceptance by the court marked the first spying conviction in New Zealand’s history. The soldier would be paid at half his previous rate until his dismissal
RSS