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Briton 'tried to sell 200 missiles'
By James Langton In New York, Evening Standard Last updated at 00:00am on 05.01.05A British businessman offered to sell 200 shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles to be used in a plot to terrorise the US, a court heard.
Hemant Lakhani, 69, allegedly told an undercover FBI agent the rockets could be used to shoot down 10 to 15 airliners simultaneously on the second anniversary of the September 11 attacks.
Lakhani, from Hendon, denies the accusations, and rejects further charges that he promised to sell a radioactive "dirty bomb".
He says he is the victim of an entrapment operation by US, British and Russian intelligence agencies, under pressure to catch terror suspects.
Stuart Rabner, prosecuting, told the jury in New Jersey: "This case is about a man who tried to sell 200 surface-to-air missiles to people he believed would use them to shoot down planes with people aboard.
"He spent more than a year and a half trying to smuggle 200 missiles into the United States, all the time issuing advice on how to shoot planes out of the sky to shake the US economy."
Mr Rabner told the court Lakhani had been taped praising Osama bin Laden for "a very good job". He was arrested in August 2003 at a hotel by Newark Airport after allegedly presenting a "sample" missile to an FBI informant, called Air Haji, who was posing as a representative of a Somali terror group.
Lakhani, a Hindu, had allegedly told the agent: "You must target 10 to 15 different airportsat the same time," and added: "If Allah blesses us we can finish this." He also offered a "dirty" bomb for ?1.6 million.
Lakhani was charged with attempting to provide material support to terrorists, brokering of foreign defence articles, money laundering, and attempting to import merchandise by means of false statements.
Mr Rabner said that as Lakhani was soliciting a Ukrainian arms firm, the Russian intelligence service heard of the plot. They provided him with a dud and shipped it to the US.
Lakhani's lawyer, Henry Klingeman, said he had been tempted by the chance of a huge sale. He added: "The government came up with the idea to bring missiles into the United States. How is that making us safer?"
The trial continues.
