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.
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
Conjoined twins Lori and George Schappell, who pursued separate careers, interests and relationships during lives that defied medical expectations, died this month in Pennsylvania, funeral home officials said. They were 62. The twins, listed by Guinness World Records as the oldest living conjoined twins, died on April 7 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, obituaries posted by Leibensperger Funeral Homes of Hamburg said. The cause of death was not detailed. “When we were born, the doctors didn’t think we’d make 30, but we proved them wrong,” Lori said in an interview when they turned 50, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The
RAMPAGE: A Palestinian man was left dead after dozens of Israeli settlers searching for a missing 14-year-old boy stormed a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed. Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.” Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of
A prominent Christian leader has allegedly been stabbed at the altar during a Mass yesterday in southwest Sydney. Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel was saying Mass at Christ The Good Shepherd Church in Wakeley just after 7pm when a man approached him at the altar and allegedly stabbed toward his head multiple times. A live stream of the Mass shows the congregation swarm forward toward Emmanuel before it was cut off. The church leader gained prominence during the COVID-19 pandemic, amassing a large online following, Officers attached to Fairfield City police area command attended a location on Welcome Street, Wakeley following reports a number