EIGHT men were yesterday accused of plotting a "dirty" bomb attack in Britain — using radioactive materials, toxic gases and chemicals. The eight Muslims, arrested in raids by the Anti-Terrorist Branch and MI5 on August 3, were also charged with conspiracy to murder. No specific targets were mentioned in the charges. But security chiefs feared that, had a chemical attack succeeded, it would have caused death and injury on a massive scale. One of the suspects was further charged with possessing plans which could have provided the basis for a terror attack on major financial institutions in the US. They allegedly included the Stock Exchange and Citigroup in New York and the International Monetary Fund HQ in Washington.
The eight charged yesterday at London's high-security Paddington Green police station were: Dhiren Barot, 32, of Willesden, North London; Omar Abdul Rehman, 20, of Bushey, Herts; Zia Ul Haq, 25, of Paddington; Abdul Aziz Jalil, 31, of Luton, Beds; Nadeem Tarmohammed, 26, of Willesden; Mohammed Naveed Bhatti, 24, of Harrow, Middx; Quaisar Shaffi, 25, of Willesden and Junade Feroze, 28, of Blackburn. Pakistan-born Barot was also accused of possessing "reconnaisance" plans for a US attack. He was said to have had two notebooks with information on "explosives, poisons and chemicals". He and Tarmohammed were also charged jointly with having reconnaisance plans of the Prudential Building in New Jersey. Shaffi was charged with possessing an extract from the Terrorist's Handbook, a bomb-making guide available on the internet. A ninth man — Matthew Monks, 32, of Sudbury, North West London — was also quizzed at Paddington Green. He was charged with possessing a banned weapon.
The eight appeared in court today. The suspects were among 13 people held by more than 200 officers in this month's series of anti-terror swoops across London, Lancashire and the South East. The operation was said to have been sparked by the capture of al-Qaeda's computer chief, Muhammed Naeem Noor Khan, in Pakistan last month. Two days before the arrests, a string of US financial institutions had been placed on security alert. US Attorney General John Ashcroft said prosecutors there were now exploring if there would be any charges across the Atlantic. Shaffi's family last night told of their "shock" at the news he had been charged. A cousin who gave his name as Oz said: "We have just heard. We're really worried about him and shocked at what has happened." |