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'Bombers planned to blast nuclear plants and Wharf'
Justin Davenport and Anna Davis4 Apr 2008
A British Muslim terror gang drew up a list of targets with "limitless ambition", a jury heard today.
Woolwich crown court was told one of eight men accused of plotting to bomb transatlantic jets had information about Canary Wharf, Heathrow's control tower and other airports.
There were also details on oil refineries, the National Grid, power stations including nuclear facilities, Britain's biggest gas terminal and the country's major internet service provider exchange.
Assad Sarwar, 27, had the list in a memory stick that prosecutor Peter Wright QC called a "mine of information" for terrorists.
The jury also saw chilling videos showing some of the accused praising Osama bin Laden and trying to justify their alleged plan to kill civilians.
The men are alleged to have filmed the videos in advance of plans to board at least seven planes bound for the US and Canada carrying home-made bombs.
The devices would have been hidden in soft drink bottles such as Oasis and Lucozade, and detonated with power from a disposable camera, the court has heard. The planes would have crashed on cities, and the death toll could have exceeded that of 9/11, when about 3,000 were killed.
The eight were arrested in August 2006 when they were "almost ready" to strike.
The videos show seven of them threatening "terror and destruction". Posing in front of a black flag with Arabic writing on it, they denounce aspects of Western lifestyles such as drinking alcohol, watching East-Enders and Home And Away, and complaining about the World Cup.
One gang member was not intended to die but was the custodian of the videos, and the link between the alleged bombers and unknown others "overseas". Waheed Zaman is filmed saying: "Remember as you kill us, you will be killed. As you bomb us you will be bombed."
Abdulla Ahmed Ali, the alleged ringleader, describes how he would carry out his mission for "myself, my family and those close to me" to "punish and humiliate the kuffar [unbeliever] to teach them a lesson that they will never forget".
He adds: "Get out of our lands, leave us alone. You have persisted in trying to humiliate us, kill us and destroy us and Sheikh Osama warned you many times to leave our lands or you will be destroyed, and now the time has come for you to be destroyed.
"I have the desire since the age of 15, 16, to participate in jihad in the path of Allah. I had the desire since then to punish the kuffar for the evil they are doing, I had the desire since then for Jannya [paradise] for the Koran."
Another of the accused declares the attack will be in "revenge for the actions of the USA" and their accomplices, the British and the Jews.
Umar Islam declares that no one is innocent: "Even if you disagree that you've done nothing, you're just sitting there and you're still funding the army, you haven't put down your leader, most of you are too busy watching Home and Away and East-Enders, complaining about the World Cup and drinking your alcohol."
Video recordings made by two of the men were found in the boot of one of their cars in Walthamstow, the jury heard.
The court was also told that two computer memory sticks were found at Sarwar's home in High Wycombe, and these had information about locations such as Canary Wharf and the Bacton gas terminal in Norfolk.
Sarwar flew from London to Islamabad in Pakistan in June 2006 and returned a month later, the jury heard. Police believe his trip was connected to the plot and Mr Wright said: "The horizon in respect of Sarwar's terrorist ambition was limitless."
Anti-terrorist officers found 18 litres of hydrogen peroxide, the main alleged ingredient of the home-made bombs, in his garage. On 15 August, six days after the arrests were made, police found a suitcase in Kings Wood, High Wycombe, near Sarwar's home. It contained ingredients needed to make the chemical HMTD, which would allegedly have acted as detonator for the devices.
The jury was also shown a video of what happened when scientists exploded a bomb using similar materials to those seized by police. It was made of a 500ml Oasis bottle containing hydrogen peroxide with a detonator using HMTD. When it exploded it broke the toughened glass surrounding the chamber.
After the arrests there was a massive security clampdown at British airports. Passengers were banned from taking liquid containers on board - a ban still in force.
The trial continues.
