Monday, April 30, 2007

5 Britons Convicted

London, April 30 — A British court today found five men guilty of a conspiracy to use fertilizer bombs to blow up targets — including, perhaps, a nightclub, a shopping mall and an electric power grid — after a yearlong trial and record jury deliberations of nearly a month.

All five of the convicted men were British citizens, four of them of Pakistani descent, who made trips to Pakistan to learn about explosives and terror techniques at a camp that the court heard was connected to Al Qaeda. Two other defendants in the case, also Britons of Pakistani descent, were acquitted.

Omar Khyam, 26, Waheed Mahmood, 34, Anthony Garcia, 24, Jawad Akbar, 23, and Salahuddin Amin, 31, were convicted of conspiring to cause an explosion likely to endanger life, the Home Office said. The judge, Sir Michael Astill, sentenced the five men to life imprisonment.

(snip)

The trial court heard the first concrete evidence to surface that some of the conspirators had met with two of the men who later went on to blow themselves up in an attack on London’s transit system in July 2005, the deadliest terror attack in Britain’s history.

At the time of the police surveillance of Mr. Khyam, who was convicted today, together with two of the transit bombers in early 2004, the British authorities judged that the two men who went on to become suicide bombers were not dangerous enough to pursue further, according to a 2006 parliamentary report and court evidence.

The two men went on to take part in the 2005 transit attack, which killed 52 people.

Within an hour of the verdict this morning, the opposition Conservative Party, survivors and relatives of victims of the July 2005 transit attack called for an official inquiry into why the authorities missed an opportunity to prevent the atrocity.

The Home Secretary, John Reid, put the best face on the growing controversy, saying in a statement that the law enforcement agencies could never guarantee “100 percent success” in combating terror.

Sir Michael, the judge, told defense lawyers this morning that “all of these are radicalized young men, all of these young men have been radicalized by others. They are the people who take the punishment.”

The lawyer for one of the defendants, Mr. Amin, had told the jury that Mr. Amin had been tortured after being arrested by the Pakistan intelligence authorities. The judge today said that Mr. Amin had been treated in a “completely unacceptable” way in Pakistan.

Friday, April 13, 2007

More on Christopher Paul

Resort bomb plot suspect pleads innocent

By JOHN McCARTHY Associated Press Writer
© 2007 The Associated Press

COLUMBUS, Ohio — An Ohio man pleaded not guilty Friday to federal charges that he joined al-Qaida and conspired to bomb European tourist resorts and U.S. military bases overseas.

Christopher Paul, 43, a U.S. citizen living in Columbus, did not ask to be released on bond.

Paul had learned hand-to-hand combat and how to use grenades and assault rifles at an al-Qaida camp in Afghanistan in the early 1990s, according to a federal grand jury indictment announced Thursday. He then joined the terrorist group in Pakistan and told al-Qaida members he was dedicated to committing violent jihad, prosecutors allege.

When U.S. District Judge Gregory Frost asked for his plea, Paul said "not guilty."

"And that is to all three counts, correct?" Frost said.

"Yes, sir," Paul replied.

Prosecutors and his defense attorney declined to comment after the hearing.

Paul, arrested Wednesday at his apartment, is charged with providing material support to terrorists, conspiracy to provide support to terrorists and conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction, which carries the most serious penalty of up to life in prison.

Court records also show links between Paul and two other Columbus men previously charged with terrorism.

One of the men, Nuradin Abdi, was accused of plotting to blow up a Columbus-area shopping mall and is awaiting trial on charges including conspiring to aid terrorists. A laser range finder and a night vision scope seized from Paul's residence are listed among items that the government intends to use as evidence in Abdi's case. Abdi also listed Paul as a reference on a government employment application, records show.

Paul was friends with the other man, Iyman Faris, who was sentenced in 2003 to 20 years in prison for a plot to topple the Brooklyn Bridge. The two attended the same mosque, Faris' attorney, David B. Smith, told The Columbus Dispatch.

The investigation into Paul spanned four years, three continents and at least eight countries, FBI agent Tim Murphy said.

The indictment says Paul traveled to Germany in 1999 to train co-conspirators to use explosives to attack European and U.S. targets and plotted to bomb government buildings in Europe and vacation spots frequented by American tourists.

A fax machine in his home contained names, phone numbers and contact information for key al-Qaida leadership and associates, according to the indictment.

Paul also sent $1,760 by wire transfer to an alleged co-conspirator in Germany, prosecutors allege.

Thursday, April 12, 2007

Iraqi Parliament Attacked

Trouble:
Apr 12, 2007, 17:23 GMT
Washington - An al-Qaeda controlled group, Islamic State in Iraq, has claimed credit for Thursday's penetrating blast at the Iraqi Parliament that killed at least seven people, according to the US weekly magazine Time.

The magazine said the group posted a message on a 'prominent' militant website, muslm.net, which called the attack a warning to anyone who cooperates with 'the occupier and its agents.'

'We will reach you wherever you are,' the magazine quoted the message as saying.
The seven dead at the Parliament cafeteria included three members of Parliament. The blast occurred during lunchtime. In addition, at least ten people were killed and a number of people were missing after a near simultaneous explosion at a bridge over the Tigris River in Baghdad.

Parliament is located in the nearly impenetrable Green Zone, the heavily-guarded diplomatic and government area of closed-off streets in central Baghdad, former presidential grounds that include the main palaces of former president Saddam Hussein.

An interior ministry official told Time magazine that the bomber wore a suicide vest and was a guard for a member of Parliament.

The official told Time that the metal detectors at the entrance to the site were not operating Thursday.

US military officials were unable to explain the security breech. Lieutenant Colonel Chris Garver, a US military spokesman in Iraq, told CNN that the international zone is 'safer than many places in Baghdad,' but added: 'We live under the threat of people trying to come in and attack.'

Germany, 1999, eh?

Funny that we never heard of this before. Intriguing story:
U.S. citizen charged with terror plots
Ohio man allegedly joined al-Qaida, eyed bombing of tourist resorts
The Associated Press
Updated: 9:22 a.m. ET April 12, 2007
COLUMBUS, Ohio - A federal grand jury indicted a U.S. citizen on charges of joining al-Qaida and conspiring to bomb European tourist resorts and U.S. government facilities and military bases overseas.

Christopher Paul, 43, of Columbus, trained with al-Qaida in the early 1990s, the indictment issued Wednesday says. The indictment says he told al-Qaida members in Pakistan and Afghanistan that he was dedicated to committing violent jihad.

Paul is charged with providing material support to terrorists, conspiracy to provide support to terrorists and conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction.

Fred Alverson, spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office in Columbus, said Thursday that he couldn’t comment further on the case.

Federal prosecutors planned to hold a news conference later Thursday.

Behind bars
Paul was in the Franklin County Jail late Wednesday after a U.S. District Court hearing was postponed until his attorney, Don Wolery, could be present. Wolery did not immediately return a message seeking comment Thursday morning.

The indictment says Paul traveled to Germany about April 1999 to train co-conspirators to use explosives to attack European and U.S. targets, including government buildings and vacation spots frequented by American tourists.

It does not address specific resorts or buildings that might have been targeted, but it gives U.S. embassies, military bases and consular premises in Europe as examples.

Paul was born Paul Kenyatta Laws. He legally changed his name to Abdulmalek Kenyatta in 1989, then to Christopher Paul in 1994, according to the indictment said.

Two other Columbus men have been charged in federal investigators’ terrorism investigation. Iyman Faris was sentenced in 2003 to 20 years in prison for a plot to topple the Brooklyn Bridge. Nuradin Abdi, accused of plotting to blow up a Columbus-area shopping mall, is awaiting trial on charges including conspiring to aid terrorists.

Monday, April 09, 2007

US Military Jails in Iraq