Car bomb trial: 'Prepared to do anything to get an explosion'

Published on Friday 10 October 2008 22:09

Glasgow

TWO Islamic terrorists hurled petrol bombs from a burning Jeep and fought with police and members of the public at Glasgow Airport as part of their "determined" attempt to murder Scots holidaymakers, a court heard yesterday.

In what the prosecution described as "the most frightening of experiences", Bilal Abdulla and Kafeel Ahmed shouted "Allahu akbar", an Arabic exclamation meaning "God is great", as they sought to blow up their "mobile fire bomb" Jeep Cherokee in the main terminal on the airport's busiest day of the year.

A laptop recovered from the Jeep contained a will drafted by Abdulla addressed to Osama bin Laden and leaders of the jihad in his home nation, Iraq.

Woolwich Crown Court heard that, in the ensuing panic inside the terminal, passengers were crushed as they tried to flee.

The second day of the trial of Abdulla, 29, at the time a junior house officer at Paisley's Royal Alexandra Hospital, and his co-defendant, Mohammed Asha, 28, described as an "extremely talented doctor", heard how the men moved their attention to Scotland after their attempted car bombing in London failed.

After the two car bombs did not detonate, Abdulla and Ahmed are believed to have spent most of the night of 29 June preparing the metallic green Jeep Cherokee for the new bombing attempt in Glasgow.

Computer records show that between 1:29am and 1:34am on 30 June, Ahmed uploaded material into a Google e-mail account, its contents intended for his brother, Sabeel, to read later.

The jury of seven women and five men heard that analysis of CCTV material recovered following the airport attack revealed the movements of the Jeep.

At 8:04am, the vehicle was travelling north. Mr Laidlaw said that walkers in the area saw the Jeep in the car park at Milarrochy Bay, on the eastern shore of Loch Lomond. The load space in the rear seemed full, its contents covered with a groundsheet.

At lunchtime, Abdulla and Ahmed travelled from Loch Lomond to Glasgow. At 1:47pm, a text message was sent from one of Kafeel Ahmed's mobile phones to his brother, Sabeel Ahmed. It instructed Sabeel to visit the Google e-mail account, where the message explaining Kafeel's actions was lodged.

Mr Laidlaw claimed the e-mail "was written in the clear expectation that when Sabeel read the letter, Kafeel and Abdulla would have died in the suicide attack". It was plain, Mr Laidlaw added, that Ahmed had kept his involvement in the terrorist plot from his brother and that Sabeel was not involved in the plot.

CCTV film tracked the Jeep, with Ahmed driving, making its way towards the airport. At 3:12pm it had reached Caledonia Way, which runs past the main terminal entrance, ordinarily reserved for taxis and buses.

At 3:13pm, the Jeep reached the terminal doors and Ahmed turned the vehicle sharply in towards the building. It was, Mr Laidlaw said, an "obvious attempt to crash through into the terminal area".

It was the airport's busiest day of the year and the queues at the check-in desks almost reached the terminal doors. For those present, Mr Laidlaw said, "it must have been the most frightening of experiences".

The Jeep, however, did not breach the entrance, the vehicle instead becoming caught against the right-hand-side of the doors.

Describing Ahmed as "undeterred" and "very determined", Mr Laidlaw described how he reversed the Jeep and made the first of a number of further attempts to crash through the doors, repeatedly striking them until he became trapped.

Both Ahmed and Abdulla went on to light and throw petrol bombs in an attempt to set the Jeep alight. There were shouts of "Allahu akbar" ("God is great"), Mr Laidlaw added.

"It is clear that, having failed to detonate the vehicles in London, they (Ahmed and Abdulla] were prepared to do literally anything to achieve an explosion which was bound to have resulted in them losing their lives," he said.

Ahmed was seen to pour fuel from a can out of the driver's window on to the Jeep, before throwing a petrol bomb into the fuel and getting out. He was immediately engulfed in flames.

Police officers and members of the public attempted to extinguish the fire. Ahmed, however, tried to thwart their efforts, punching and kicking. CS gas was sprayed at him, and he was knocked to the ground. Eventually, the flames on his body were put out. He was subdued, handcuffed and arrested.

At the same time, Abdulla got out of the Jeep and ran off. Police officers and members of the public attempted to restrain him, but he lashed out until he was overpowered.

Inside the airport, there was panic. People were seen shouting and running through the terminal, and there was "an element of chaos" as they ran. Children could be heard screaming and there was a crush of trolleys at exit points as some holidaymakers tried to keep belongings with them as they fled.

Experts who examined the damaged Jeep later found its back seat had been folded down, and ten fuel containers had been placed in the rear. All appeared to have contained petrol.

There was also other material found which suggested the vehicle had been rigged as a large mobile fire bomb.

Another item recovered from the Jeep was a badly burnt Dell Inspiron laptop computer. On its hard drive, investigators found images of a circuit drawing identical to that used on the London devices, pictures of gas canisters, regulators, and photographs of London night clubs.

Also found was what appeared to be a draft of Abdulla's will. It was addressed to, among others, the leaders of jihad in Iraq, Osama bin Laden, and to the brothers of jihad in Afghanistan, Chechnya and Palestine.

Mr Laidlaw said: "The terms in which it is written plainly expose the defendant's position in his trial before you as a lie. The attacks he was planning were intended to kill. They were in revenge for the injustices, as the defendant sees them, that the British and Americans visit on the Muslim communities."

Ahmed was taken to the Royal Alexandria Hospital, where he died on 2 August. Abdulla was arrested and taken to Glasgow's Helen Street police station. On his person was a key to the green Mercedes he had delivered to a location near the Tiger Tiger nightclub in London's West End the previous day, plus the keys to the "bomb factory" at 6 Neuk Crescent in Houston, and a Nokia phone with two SIM cards.

Abdulla and Asha deny conspiracy to murder and conspiracy to cause explosions.

The trial continues.

Terrorists fled from nightclub bomb attack on rickshaws, trial hears

London

TWO terrorists caught rickshaws to escape the scene after leaving deadly car bombs parked in London's bustling West End, a court heard yesterday.

Dr Bilal Abdulla, 29, and Kafeel Ahmed, 28, stationed one of the vehicles outside a packed nightclub and the other in front of a busy bus stop, Woolwich Crown Court was told. The cars, packed with gas canisters, petrol and nails, were left in the capital on 29 June last year but failed to explode because "initiation" devices did not work properly, the jury heard.

The prosecutor, Jonathan Laidlaw, QC, said the two men were captured on CCTV leaving the area in the early hours of that morning.

Ahmed was seen dumping into a bin an umbrella he had apparently been carrying to shield his face from cameras.

At 1:39am, he hailed a rickshaw in Piccadilly Circus and Abdulla also adopted the same mode of transport to get away from the area.

The two men met up in Edgware Road at 2:05am, just 30 minutes after they had left the bomb-rigged cars, the court heard.

They then headed to the Newham Hotel in Forest Gate, in London's east end, where they were to spend the night. The next morning, they made their north to Stoke's Royal Infirmary, where they met up with Asha.

By 6:25pm, the meeting between the three appeared to be over, Mr Laidlaw said. Abdulla and Asha then travelled by train to Glasgow Central, before heading on to Johnstone, and hailing a taxi to Houston.

Long list of equipment discovered at suspects' address

'Bomb factory'

A LITTLE more than 12 hours after the attempted attack on Glasgow Airport, police discovered the "bomb factory" home of Dr Bilal Abdulla and Kafeel Ahmed, the court heard.

Police arrived at Neuk Crescent, Houston, at 4:40am on Sunday, 1 July, last year. Such was the extent of material in the "ordinary house", it took 14 days to carry out a detailed search of the premises and gather evidence.

"It became immediately apparent that the house had been used as a place to manufacture improvised explosive devices of the kind found in the Mercedes cars in London," Jonathan Laidlaw, QC, prosecuting, told Woolwich Crown Court.

As well as receipts for purchases of gas canisters and fuel, police found a long list of equipment including wiring, connectors, batteries, soldering equipment, cutters, wire clippers, electrical test meters, adapted mobile phones, circuit boards, diagrams, duct tape, gas canisters, heavy-duty coach screws, nails, packaging and instructions for a two-way radio set and satellite navigation devices.

In the garage was the fuel and associated items such as gloves, packaging and instructions for at least six propane gas regulators and two propane gas bottles.

Several instances of DNA and fingerprint matches had also placed Abdulla at the Houston address, "the clearest of evidence of Bilal's involvement in the conspiracy", Mr Laidlaw said.

Accused 'put details in bin'

Shopping trip

DR MOHAMMAD Asha was shopping in Stoke on Trent when he heard the car bombs had been defused, Woolwich Crown Court heard.

Later, Asha, who was by now being watched by police, dumped a bag in a bin.

In it were addresses of Islamic websites, giving access to jihadi material, as well as documents in the name of Dr Bilal Abdulla, his co-accused.

Just after 9pm, Asha was arrested on the M6.