A sixth man was charged with a terror offence following raids in Birmingham. West Midlands police said Basiru Gassama, 29, from Birmingham, will appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court in London on Saturday. He is accused of withholding information about a potential act of terrorism. The charge, under the Terrorism Act 2000, follows the appearance of five other men in court charged with offences under anti-terrorism laws.One of the men was accused of planning to kidnap and kill a British soldier. Parviz Khan, 36, appeared amid tight security at City of Westminster Magistrates' Court in London alongside four other men. Khan, arrested in a series of raids in Birmingham on January 31, is charged with an offence under section 5(1) of the Terrorism Act 2006. He is accused between November 1 2006 and 31 January 2007 of engaging in conduct "to give effect to his intention to kidnap and kill a member of the British Armed Forces".
Khan and the other four - Amjad Mahmood, Mohammed Irfan, Zahoor Iqbal and Hamid Elasmar - are all charged with two offences each. One is under section 5(1) of the Terrorism Act 2006 and the other under section 17 the Terrorism Act 2000. The first alleges that between March 30 2006 and January 31 2007 they engaged in conduct to give effect to an intention to supply equipment for use in committing acts of terrorism. The second charge states that between the same dates they entered into or became concerned in a funding arrangement that they knew or had cause to suspect "may be used for the purposes of terrorism".
Khan then also faces the charge alleging the kidnap plot while 31-year-old Mahmood is also accused of failing to disclose information which might have been of "material assistance" in preventing the alleged plot. All five men are now due to appear at the Old Bailey on February 23.