Woolwich: Echoes of 2007 plot to behead soldier

Yesterday’s killing appears to have some similarities to a plot by Islamic fanatic Parviz Khan to snatch a British Muslim soldier from the streets and film him being beheaded.

The Royal Artillery Barracks near the scene in Woolwich. Picture: PA

Khan, 37, built up a terrorist cell in Birmingham and planned to kidnap the soldier before filming the man’s “ghastly” death for release to the media, Leicester Crown Court heard.

Prosecutors said the planned 2007 attack was designed to cause “panic and fear” amongst the army and the wider British public. He was given a life sentence in 2008.

There have been several Islamic terrorist attacks in the UK. In 2007, two men attempted to drive a Jeep loaded with propane canisters through glass doors at Glasgow Airport.

Security bollards outside the entrance to the airport stopped the car from entering the terminal and the vehicle caught fire.

Both of the men inside the Jeep were apprehended at the scene. The driver, Khalid Ahmed, later died in hospital from the severe burns he sustained after the Jeep caught fire.

The other man – Bilal Abdullah, a British-born Muslim doctor of Iraqi descent working at Paisley’s Royal Alexandra Hospital – was later found guilty of conspiracy to commit murder and sentenced to 32 years in prison.

On 7 July, 2005, 52 members of the public were killed as the result of were a series of co-
ordinated suicide attacks in London, which targeted commuters using public transport during the morning rush hour.

Four Islamist home-grown terrorists detonated four bombs, three in quick succession aboard London Underground trains across the city and, later, a fourth on a double-decker bus in Tavistock Square.

The four bombers were killed in the attacks – and it is estimated about 700 members of the public were injured.

The explosions were caused by home-made organic peroxide-based devices packed into rucksacks.