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Britain
Gang who called themselves 'Musketeers' guilty of plotting UK bomb attack
2017-08-02
[SkyNews] Police found a "viable" pipe bomb in one of the defendant's cars - the gang claimed an undercover officer had planted the device.

A gang of men who styled themselves as the "musketeers" have been found guilty of plotting a bomb and knife attack in the UK.

Naweed Ali and Khobaib Hussain from Birmingham, and Mohibur Rahman and Tahir Aziz from Stoke-on-Trent, stood trial at the Old Bailey after counter-terror police found a pipe bomb described as "viable".

MI5 and undercover police officers had set up a fake firm in the city called Hero Couriers which employed both Hussain and Ali. The pair were being monitored after earlier terrorist-related convictions.

During Ali's first day working at the Birmingham firm last August, police searched his black Seat car and were surprised to find the bomb alongside ammunition, an imitation handgun and a meat cleaver with the word "kafir" - meaning non-believer - scratched into the blade.

It prompted a major security alert and the area around Florence Street close to the city centre went into lockdown, with the Army's bomb squad tasked with making sure the pipe bomb would not explode.

Latex gloves and industrial tape were also recovered.

Police immediately arrested all four men and seized a large sword which had been stashed in Aziz's car.

Aziz said the sword was for self-defence and claimed he was doing research when asked to explain what he was doing with pages from an al Qaeda pipe bomb-making article.

Jurors were told Hussain had previously handled the same type of pipes used for the bomb on his gas-fitter's course and his DNA was on the roll of tape.

The four men had denied plotting the attack and claimed in court an undercover MI5 officer known as Vincent had planted the bomb in the vehicle.

Ali's car had been parked at the "covert" courier firm while he went to Luton to deliver a parcel.

Vincent was cross-examined over 12 days and repeatedly rejected the allegations against him.

Stephen Kamlish QC suggested Vincent had put a bag of incriminating evidence in Ali's vehicle before MI5 turned up to bug it.

He alleged that was his only window of opportunity as MI5 had already bugged Hussain's car after he had begun working for Hero Couriers the month before.

Jurors agreed with Vincent and, after deliberating for 22 hours, convicted Ali, 29, Hussain, 25, and Rahman, 33, of preparing terrorist acts.

Aziz, 38, was found guilty of the same offence after the jury deliberated for another 20 minutes.

As they were led from the dock, Rahman shouted out: "I hope you're happy with your lies. Lying scumbags."

Next-door neighbours Ali and Hussain had previously been convicted after travelling to Pakistan to attend a terror training camp, although neither man went through with the training.

Rahman had earlier served a five-year sentence for possessing materials linked to terrorism.

The three men met inside HMP Belmarsh in southeast London and went on to plot the pipe bomb attack that was intercepted by the authorities.

West Midlands Police arrested the four men shortly after they discovered the bomb and have been unable to identify where the men had planned to detonate it.

The four are due to be sentenced on Thursday.
The BBC adds:
Police say the men, who had all denied preparing terrorist acts, were inspired by so-called Islamic State, also known as Daesh.

They were described as "dangerous men" who were committed to carrying out a "mass casualty attack".

Officers said the case was "one of the most complex counter terrorism investigations in a number of years".

The court heard how the members of the gang called themselves the Three Musketeers when exchanging encrypted messages on the Telegram app.

Neighbours Ali and Hussain have previously been jailed for attempting to join an al-Qaeda training camp in Pakistan in 2011.

The trial heard the pair first met Rahman - who had been convicted of possessing an al-Qaeda magazine - while in prison.
Update from the Daily Mail at 1:40 p.m. EDT:
Three terrorists who called themselves the 'Three Musketeers' are facing jail after their plot to carry out a London Bridge-style knife rampage was foiled by undercover MI5 agents.

Rahman claimed MI5 agents tried to recruit him as informant against hate preacher Anjem Choudary, but instead he joined the 'Three Musketeers' plot to unleash havoc with their haul of guns, knives and ammunition.

The terror trio had links to hate preacher Anjem Choudary
...the ISIS-linked head of Al Muhajiroun, who is connected to an astounding number of convicted British jihadis. He was recently moved from the general population of the high security prison hosting him for the next half decade to become the first resident of its new isolation ward...
but judge feared telling the jury could prejudice the trial.
Posted by:Bright Pebbles

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