The terrorist and the shop girl

BBC News ^ | 8 January 2008 | Dominic Casciani

[forkinsocket]

"Akhi - Sorry for the late reply. The airport security is still as tight as ever - even more now though." So said Heathrow shop worker Samina Malik in an e-mail to self-proclaimed al-Qaeda terrorist Sohail Anjum Qureshi.

The interception of that email and other evidence led to Qureshi being jailed for four-and-a-half years on Tuesday, after he admitted preparing to commit an act of terrorism overseas.

The east London man, originally from Pakistan, is the first person to be convicted of the key new terrorist offence introduced in 2006.

But it is his online links with Malik, convicted of a lesser charge in 2007, that have revealed details of how some al-Qaeda inspired extremists operate in the shadows.

Second life

Qureshi, 30, may have been a dental assistant in public - but MI5 intelligence and a police investigation revealed a second life.

Qureshi wanted to follow a well-trodden path among jihadi activists. He wanted to travel overseas, almost certainly to Afghanistan, and fight in the name of Muslims against those he saw as invaders - US, British or other troops.

According to the police investigation, Qureshi had already told online contacts that he had performed this jihadi rite-of-passage.

He claimed that in 1996 he had joined an al-Qaeda training camp inside Pakistan and gone on to lead another, two years later. He said he had helped to finance mujahideen groups.

According to the Metropolitan Police, Qureshi went online to discuss his plans with a key contact in late 2006. The internet is at the heart of many jihadi networks - it provides a degree of anonymity and security for extremists who are sometimes operating in different countries.

[forkinsocket]

[gondramB]

I assume they had more evidence... but from just what is in the article this could some wannabe trying impress a girl with what a badass jihadi he is when in fact he hasn’t even been to training yet.

[Cindy]

JIHAD WATCH.org (DAILY MAIL.co.uk): "'PRAY THAT I KILL MANY': UK MUSLIM DENTIST JAILED FOR PLANNING JIHAD ATTACKS ON UK TROOPS IN AFGHANISTAN" (January 8, 2008)

LITTLE GREEN FOOTBALLS.com - blog: "VIDEO: UK ISLAMIST PLEADS GUILTY TO TERROR CHARGES" (January 8, 2008, 2:14 pm PST)

Link

[familyop]

"The interception of that email and other evidence led to Qureshi being jailed for four-and-a-half years on Tuesday, after he admitted preparing to commit an act of terrorism overseas."

Well then, you've nearly won the War, Britain. Congratulations. Saturating your country with more monitoring of everyone there should wrap the whole matter up. Nations of evil assassins will never get through such security. That sort of thing was all that was required against the Germans to finish WWII.