December 18, 2008
LONDON: An Iraqi doctor found guilty of trying to murder hundreds of people in failed car bombings in London and Glasgow was last night jailed for at least 32 years.
Bilal Abdulla, 29, who was born in Britain but raised in Iraq, was found guilty at Woolwich Crown Court in southeast London on Tuesday of conspiracy to cause explosions for the failed attacks in June last year.
Judge Colin Crichton Mackay told Abdulla last night he was a "religious extremist and a bigot" before passing two life sentences on him, with a minimum of 32years.
"Many people felt and still feel strong opposition to the invasion of Iraq. You do, you are sincere in that and you have strong reasons for holding that view," the judge said. "But you were born with intelligence and you were born into a privileged and well-to-do position in Iraq and you are a trained doctor."
Abdulla's radical beliefs meant he remained a danger, he said. "All of the evidence makes you a very dangerous man; you pose a high risk of serious harm to the British public in your present state of mind.
"That fact plus the circumstances of the offences themselves means that the only possible sentence on each of these two counts is a life sentence."
During the trial, Abdulla admitted he was a "terrorist" but accused the British Government of terrorism too for invading Iraq - and maintained he was not trying to kill or injure anyone.
His co-defendant Mohammed Asha, a 28-year-old Jordanian neurologist, was cleared on all counts. Dr Asha will be transferred to an immigration detention centre pending an attempt to deport him to his native Jordan. His solicitor said the doctor wanted to continue his career and would fight the deportation.
Counter-terrorism sources say Abdulla had been part of a terrorist cell in Iraq and had come to Britain to open a "new front" in the Islamist jihad after he had been refused permission to carry out a suicide attack in Baghdad.
The car bombs he tried to detonate outside the Tiger, Tiger nightclub and at Glasgow airport were the first attacks in Britain to have been inspired - but not directed - by al-Qa'ida in Iraq.
Previous Islamist plots had connections to al-Qa'ida and Kashmiri extremists in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
The only victim of the failed attacks was Kafeel Ahmed, Abdulla's accomplice, a student from India, who died from burns suffered after driving the car bomb into the airport terminal.
Police are satisfied that Abdulla was the leader of the terrorist cell and had indoctrinated Ahmed, whose engineering skills he needed to construct the bombs.
Abdulla, the son of respected physicians who had trained in Britain before returning to Iraq with their five-year-old son, had witnessed the first and second invasions of his home country by allied forces. A Sunni, he came to hate Shia Muslims.
US sources say that before he arrived in Britain, he had associated with a Sunni terrorist cell in Baghdad and had played a backroom role, possibly as a quartermaster. His professional background and excellent English meant he could not be wasted in a martyrdom mission in Iraq.
In Britain, he was detected by MI5 on the periphery of extremist activity when he associated with Muslim radicals, including members of the Hizb ut-Tahrir party, while studying in Cambridge.
He was not known to have associations with any active terrorists in Britain.
The planting of the two car bombs - which were packed with petrol canisters, propane gas cylinders and nails - in the West End caught the authorities off guard in June last year. The devices failed to explode.
Police across Britain were involved in a fast-moving pursuit of the two bombers as they made their way north to prepare their suicidal assault on Glasgow airport.
Having recovered mobile phones from the bomb cars, police were able to track Abdulla and Ahmed as they returned to Scotland, stopping to visit Dr Asha.
Police arrived at the bomb factory about 5am on the day of the airport attack. The bombers had left an hour before.
LONDON: An Iraqi doctor found guilty of trying to murder hundreds of people in failed car bombings in London and Glasgow was last night jailed for at least 32 years.
Bilal Abdulla, 29, who was born in Britain but raised in Iraq, was found guilty at Woolwich Crown Court in southeast London on Tuesday of conspiracy to cause explosions for the failed attacks in June last year.
Judge Colin Crichton Mackay told Abdulla last night he was a "religious extremist and a bigot" before passing two life sentences on him, with a minimum of 32years.
"Many people felt and still feel strong opposition to the invasion of Iraq. You do, you are sincere in that and you have strong reasons for holding that view," the judge said. "But you were born with intelligence and you were born into a privileged and well-to-do position in Iraq and you are a trained doctor."
Abdulla's radical beliefs meant he remained a danger, he said. "All of the evidence makes you a very dangerous man; you pose a high risk of serious harm to the British public in your present state of mind.
"That fact plus the circumstances of the offences themselves means that the only possible sentence on each of these two counts is a life sentence."
During the trial, Abdulla admitted he was a "terrorist" but accused the British Government of terrorism too for invading Iraq - and maintained he was not trying to kill or injure anyone.
His co-defendant Mohammed Asha, a 28-year-old Jordanian neurologist, was cleared on all counts. Dr Asha will be transferred to an immigration detention centre pending an attempt to deport him to his native Jordan. His solicitor said the doctor wanted to continue his career and would fight the deportation.
Counter-terrorism sources say Abdulla had been part of a terrorist cell in Iraq and had come to Britain to open a "new front" in the Islamist jihad after he had been refused permission to carry out a suicide attack in Baghdad.
The car bombs he tried to detonate outside the Tiger, Tiger nightclub and at Glasgow airport were the first attacks in Britain to have been inspired - but not directed - by al-Qa'ida in Iraq.
Previous Islamist plots had connections to al-Qa'ida and Kashmiri extremists in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
The only victim of the failed attacks was Kafeel Ahmed, Abdulla's accomplice, a student from India, who died from burns suffered after driving the car bomb into the airport terminal.
Police are satisfied that Abdulla was the leader of the terrorist cell and had indoctrinated Ahmed, whose engineering skills he needed to construct the bombs.
Abdulla, the son of respected physicians who had trained in Britain before returning to Iraq with their five-year-old son, had witnessed the first and second invasions of his home country by allied forces. A Sunni, he came to hate Shia Muslims.
US sources say that before he arrived in Britain, he had associated with a Sunni terrorist cell in Baghdad and had played a backroom role, possibly as a quartermaster. His professional background and excellent English meant he could not be wasted in a martyrdom mission in Iraq.
In Britain, he was detected by MI5 on the periphery of extremist activity when he associated with Muslim radicals, including members of the Hizb ut-Tahrir party, while studying in Cambridge.
He was not known to have associations with any active terrorists in Britain.
The planting of the two car bombs - which were packed with petrol canisters, propane gas cylinders and nails - in the West End caught the authorities off guard in June last year. The devices failed to explode.
Police across Britain were involved in a fast-moving pursuit of the two bombers as they made their way north to prepare their suicidal assault on Glasgow airport.
Having recovered mobile phones from the bomb cars, police were able to track Abdulla and Ahmed as they returned to Scotland, stopping to visit Dr Asha.
Police arrived at the bomb factory about 5am on the day of the airport attack. The bombers had left an hour before.
Source: The Australian
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