Dawn : Jet bombing plot mastermind visited Pakistan, court told

Jet bombing plot mastermind visited Pakistan, court told

By Our Special Correspondent | April 4, 2008

LONDON, April 4: The mastermind of the eight Britons, who allegedly planned to blow up airliners in mid air, had travelled to Islamabad from Heathrow just two months before his arrest in August 2006.

At least seven aircraft flying to major cities across North America were the targets, the court was told. But the jury has also heard that a computer memory stick found at the High Wycombe.

The jury at Woolwich Crown Court was played parts of one of the martyrdom videos featuring a man said to be defendant Umar Islam, who was shown speaking of a desire to kill non-Muslims.

They also researched other targets, including power stations and London’s Canary Wharf, prosecutors said.

All eight men deny conspiring to murder and endangering aircraft in 2006.

After their arrests in August that year, passengers were banned from carrying most liquids on board aircraft.

As the chilling martyrdom videos of six of the eight accused were played in Woolwich Crown Court, the prosecution told the jury that one of the accused, Assad Ali Sarwar had travelled to Islamabad from Heathrow in June 2006, just two months before his arrest on August 9.

The seven other accused were also arrested at the same time. The prosecution told the court that Assad did not intend to die himself and had direct links to those overseas who may have a clear interest in the success of any such terrorist outrage struck in the name of Islam.

The prosecution said the trip to Pakistan was connected to the plot to detonate bombs on board transatlantic aircrafts.

Just a day before the arrests in London in August 2006, Pakistani authorities had arrested Rashid Rauf from a city in Punjab. Britain had been asking Pakistan for extradition of Rashid Rauf who escaped from the custody of Rawalpindi police in December 2007 under mysterious circumstances.

The prosecution told the court that Assad did not make his own martyrdom video and described him as “custodian” of recordings made by six of his co-defendants.

The chilling videos show the British fanatics praising Osama bin Laden and threatening death, terror and destruction in retaliation for US and British actions in Iraq and Afghanistan and their policy on Palestine.

Those who planned to board and blow up at least seven planes bound for the United States and Canada are all Londoners aged between 23 and 29 and include Abdulla Ahmed Ali, Assad Sarwar, Tanvir Hussain, Ibrahim Savant, Mohammed Gulzar, Arafat Waheed Khan, Waheed Zaman, and Umar Islam.

The jury has also heard that a computer memory stick found at the High Wycombe home of Mr Sarwar revealed the alleged plotters also considered other UK targets. They included Canary Wharf, a gas pipeline running between Belgium and the UK, other UK airports, as well as companies that store and process hydrogen peroxide.

Another memory stick found in Mr Sarwar’s garage contained information about UK power stations, internet service provider exchanges, oil refineries, the National Grid and UK airports, the jury was told.

The court also heard how the alleged plotters stockpiled materials needed for their home-made liquid devices, including 18 litres of hydrogen peroxide, wires and syringes, which the prosecution claims they intended to smuggle on to aircraft disguised as 500ml soft drinks.