TerrorismMajor U.K. terrorism trial ends in three convictions

Published 22 February 2013

Irfan Naseer, 31, Irfan Khalid, 27, and Ashik Ali, 27, all from Birmingham, were found guilty at Woolwich Crown Court of being “central figures” in a terrorist plot in which, as suicide bombers, they would have carried out an attack which would rival, in scope and destruction, the 7 July and 9/11 terrorist attacks. The prosecution said the three planned to set off up to eight bombs in rucksacks, using timers to detonate the charges. Detectives believe it is the most significant terror plot to be uncovered since the 2006 conspiracy to blow up transatlantic airliners using bombs disguised as soft drinks.

Irfan Naseer, 31, Irfan Khalid, 27, and Ashik Ali, 27, all from Birmingham, were found guilty at Woolwich Crown Court of being “central figures” in a terrorist plot in which, as suicide bombers, they would have carried out an attack which would rival, in scope and destruction, the 7 July and 9/11 terrorist attacks.

The prosecution said the three planned to set off up to eight bombs in rucksacks, using timers to detonate the charges.

The three were arrested in 2011.

The BBC reports that detectives believe it is the most significant terror plot to be uncovered since the 2006 conspiracy to blow up transatlantic airliners using bombs disguised as soft drinks.

The three men were convicted on twelve counts of preparing for acts of terrorism between December 2010 and their arrest in September 2011.

Naseer and Khalid had trained in al Qaeda camps in Pakistan, and both had recorded martyrdom videos before returning to the United Kingdom.

The three have also recruited other Birmingham Muslims to engage in terrorism. Six of those recruits have already pleaded guilty to terrorism charges.

The judge told the men they would all face life in prison when they were sentenced in April or May.

Justice Henriques told Naseer he had been convicted on “overwhelming evidence” and that he faced “a very long minimum term”.

He said: “You were seeking to recruit a team of somewhere between six and eight suicide bombers to carry out a spectacular bombing campaign, one which would create an anniversary along the lines of 7/7 or 9/11. It’s clear that you were planning a terrorist outrage in Birmingham.”

Karen Jones, specialist counter-terrorism prosecutor for the Crown Prosecution Service, said: “These men had dangerous aspirations and whilst the precise targets remained unclear, the potential for damage and loss of life from their plot should not be underestimated.

The evidence we put to the court showed the defendants discussing with awe and admiration the attacks of 9/11 and 7/7. These terrorists wanted to do something bigger, speaking of how 7/7 had ‘gone a bit wrong’.”

Detective Inspector Adam Gough of West Midlands Police led the investigation into the men. “There’s no doubt whatsoever that they were the real deal,” he said. “They are committed, passionate extremists. They had a real stated intention to kill and maim as many people as they possibly can. More than that, they not only had that intention, but they had the capacity and training to make that intention a reality.

Naseer is a very devious and calculating man. He is someone who had a real hatred of western values, someone who wants to bring his influence to others and a compulsive liar. A very dangerous man.”

The BBC notes that Irfan Naseer told the trial that the hours of secret recordings of him talking about terrorism and bomb-making were all nonsense.

He said he had pretended to be a terrorist because he wanted to end rumors in his local community that he was a Pakistani spy. Ashik Ali denied wanting to be a terrorist. Irfan Khalid did not give evidence in his defense.