Al Qaeda Suspect Was "Brainwashed"

UK News/July 24, 2006

An alleged British al Qa'eda supporter claimed he had been "brainwashed" into taking part in extreme Jihad, the Old Bailey heard today.

Salahuddin Amin, 30, told police he trained in a terror camp in Pakistani Kashmir where he learnt to build fertiliser bombs and made the deadly Ricin poison, alongside alleged accomplice Omar Khyam, 24.

And he admitted money and clothing sent by British-based supporters which he was distributing was being used to help Taliban fighters attack British and other coalition soldiers, the jury was told.

Amin is alleged to have been part of a seven-strong cell that plotted to blow up pubs, nightclubs and trains because Britain had been left "unscathed" in the US-led war on terror.

The British nationals, of Pakistani descent, had attended terror training camps on handling explosives before gathering more than half a tonne of ammonium nitrate fertiliser for their campaign, it was said.

But the plot was smashed after more than 700 anti-terror police swooped on a west London storage depot and discovered the fertiliser, which could be detonated to cause a deadly explosion in 2004.

The seven, the majority from Crawley in West Sussex, were arrested after American citizen Mohamed Babar pleaded guilty to two offences described by US officials as the "British Bomb Plot," it was alleged.

The court heard that the group were Islamic fanatics who wanted to wage Jihad, or Holy War, against the UK because of its support for American foreign policy and the fact that it had not been targetted yet.

Amin was arrested by anti-terror detectives after he flew in to Heathrow from Pakistan on February 8, 2005, where he had been detained by Pakistani police after going on the run.

Interviewed by British anti-terror police eight hours after he was met from the flight from Islamabad, Amin admitted on video that he had attended terror camps with Khyam, the court heard.

He told officers he first went to Pakistan in 2000, to set up a business and to look into waging Jihad.

He said: "At the same time I just got mixed up with the wrong people in the UK, extreme people who were too extreme in Jihad. They showed me some videos and brainwashed me."

He told the officers an acquaintance, who was later to die in Afghanistan, told him UK supporters were sending money and equipment, such as sleeping bags and winter clothing, and asked his help in distributing the material.

A police officer asked: "But you knew from day one that any material provided was going to be used to attack coalition forces?"

Amin replied: "Yes."

The court heard that he said he was "happy" that 9/11 had happened but returned to Pakistan after the war in Afghanistan started because he was "angry that everyone was getting together and fighting against the Afghanis, that was my reaction."

He told officers he had received explosives training and fired AK47s.

And he admitted: "I knew I was involved in terrorism at that time. I do regret what I was doing - that's why I surrendered myself to the Pakistani authorities."

The court heard that after Amin, who has lived in Luton since 1991, was arrested and taken to top-security Paddington Green police station. He was allowed to wash and pray, but his request for a fish and chip supper was turned down.

Amin, Khyam, his younger brother Shujah-Ud-Din Mahmood, 18, Anthony Garcia, 27, Nabeel Hussain, 20, Jawad Akbar, 22, and Waheed Mahmood, 33, are accused of conspiring to cause an explosion likely to endanger life contrary to section 3 (1)(a) of the Explosive Substances Act 1883.

Canadian Mohammed Khawaja also awaits trial for his part in the conspiracy in Ontario.

It is alleged the seven plotted between January 1, 2001 and March 31 2004 to set off a series of bombs against as yet unidentified targets in the UK.

Khyam, Garcia and Hussain are also charged under the Terrorism Act 2000 of possessing an article for terrorism - namely 600kg of ammonium nitrate fertiliser between November 5, 2003 and March 31, 2004.

Brothers Khyam and Mahmood also deny having aluminium powder - an ingredient in explosives - between the same dates.

Earlier prosecutor David Waters told the jury the plot came to light after American citizen Mohamed Babar, who has pleaded guilty to terrorist offences in New York, met the "Crawley lot" while raising funds for the taliban.

Initially Babar and the Crawley defendants focused on Afghanistan but soon their thoughts turned to the West, the court heard.

In November 2002 Babar travelled to London where he met Khyam and the "Crawley lot" and Luton-based Amin while raising funds for the Afghani Taliban.

It was during these meetings that the UK based defendants claimed to be working for Abdul Hadi, said by Khyam to be the third most senior al Qa'eda terrorist.

In 2003 Babar returned and joined terrorist training camps along with Khyam, his brother, Amin, Akbar, Garcia and Canadian-based accomplice Khawaja.

Khyam, from Crawley but who also lived in Slough; Shujah-Ud-Din Mahmood, from Crawley; Garcia, from Ilford; Hussain from Horley, Surrey, and also a student at Brunel University in Uxbridge; Akbar from Crawley and Uxbridge; Mahmood from Crawley; and Amin from Luton, Beds, all deny the charges.

The trial continues