Al-Qaeda Terrorist From Alva
Posted on 09/18/2007 8:45:46 AM PDT by Stoat
Student Mohammed Siddique was just an ordinary boy living with his parents in a Scottish village. Yesterday he was convicted of terror charges and linked to a plot to behead the Canadian PMTHE first Scot ever to be found guilty of Islamic terrorism is suspected of involvement in a chilling plot to behead the prime minister of Canada, the Record can reveal.
Mohammed Atif Siddique, a fresh-faced 21-year-old student from the sleepy town of Alva, was convicted yesterday of spreading al-Qaeda propaganda and terror instruction videos and threatening to "blow up Glasgow" in a suicide attack.
He will be sentenced next month and faces up to 15 years in jail.
Siddique was arrested last year as he tried to board a flight to Pakistan. And last night, it emerged that police feared he was on his way to join the Canadian plot.Detectives in Canada believe the terrorists planned to storm the parliament in Ottawa and behead prime minister Stephen Harper and other leaders as a punishment for sending troops to fight in Afghanistan.
They also suspect the cell of plotting to kill hundreds of Canadian civilians with huge truck bombs.
Seventeen suspects have been held in connection with the alleged plot. And security sources claim Siddique was trying to link up with members of the gang when he was arrested at Glasgow Airport last year.
Police believe Siddique had been radicalised on the internet by a man from the north of England.
The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, is suspected of being a major recruiting agent for the terrorist cause. He is related to a central figure in the alleged Canadian plot.
A source close to the investigation said: "The security services got intelligence that Siddique was about to leave for Pakistan, where he would completely go off the radar.
"Special Branch were asked to detain him without delay, and under no circumstances to let him board the flight. They feared that if he got into Pakistan, he would disappear."
Police had been watching Siddique for months before his arrest, and suspected him of being deeply involved in terrorism.
Their suspicions were confirmed when searches of his computer and home revealed a hoard of vile terror videos.
And yesterday, jurors at the High Court in Glasgow convicted Siddique of possessing al-Qaeda CDs and videos and providing instructions on his website on how to use guns and make bombs.
Siddique was also found guilty of alarming his fellow college students by threatening to carry out a suicide bomb attack in Glasgow.
He looked straight ahead and showed no emotion as the verdicts were announced. His family, who run agrocer's shop in Alva, Clackmannanshire, were in court.
Siddique was a loving son and brother. And although not the brightest student, he was a model pupil at Alva Academy.
The school's deputy head, Alexander Donoghue, told his trial: "He was very polite, always well turned-out in school uniform, very respectful and very quiet."
Siddique's neighbours were stunned by his arrest. A senior detective on the case said: "There was almost a bit of disbelief that we had charged someone from a small rural community. People questioned if it could actually be real."
But Siddique was no longer a shy, well-spoken schoolboy. Something inside him had changed.
After leaving school, Siddique immersed himself in radical Islam. He started getting up to pray at 4am every day, and tried to persuade his family to stop selling alcohol in their shop.
His parents, who send Christmas cards to their white pals in Alva, were alarmed by his growing extremism. Dad Mohammed senior even cut off his son's beard in a bid to make him change his ways. Nothing worked.
Defence counsel Donald Findlay QC told the court Siddique was guilty only of curiosity - of wanting to know what made Muslim radicals tick.
But police and prosecutors were convinced he was a fanatical follower of al-Qaeda. And they told how he looked on the internet for others who shared his views.
Experts believe Siddique got involved in an internet forum where Muslim radicals swapped passwords for extremist websites.
Such forums are often used as recruiting grounds for al-Qaeda.
A security service source told the Record: "In recent years, al-Qaeda have moved away from training camps towards the internet.
"People are looking for young, impressionable people like Siddique, who they can mould into someone committed to the al-Qaeda cause."
Siddique's activities came to the attention of police in late 2005. By then, he had been collecting documents and video clips for almost two-and-a-half years.
The security source said: "Siddique amassed a formidable archive of al-Qaeda material and obtained documents very quickly after they were published.
"It was not the kind of stuff you could find via a search engine and Siddique was not simply collecting propaganda. He was distributing it and engaging others through his websites."
Prosecutor Brian McConnachie QC told the jury that Siddique was "a wannabe suicide bomber", and said documents on his computer were meant to encourage Muslims to fight "jihad" - holy war - against the West.
Siddique's fellow students at Glasgow Metropolitan College suspected they had a madman in their midst.
They told the court how he played them gruesome videos of terrorist bombings and beheadings.
One student, Razia Hussain, said Siddique showed her an image of a dead terrorist with a smile on his face.
She said: "Mohammed said this was because he had committed Jihad and God was going to be happy. He said he wanted to be one as well - a suicide bomber.
"He also told me he he was going to blow up Glasgow. As a joke I said, 'Please inform me so I can run'."
Another student Kyle Ramsay, told the court: "Mohammed agreed with suicide bombers and said he would make his own name famous one day. He also mentioned bombing George Square in Glasgow."
On April 5 last year, Siddique arrived at Glasgow Airport with his uncle, planning to travel to Lahore in Pakistan. He claimed he was going to stay with relatives for three months.
Siddique was arrested before he could board his flight and his laptop was seized. Experts who examined it found hidden extremist material.
On April 13, police broke down the door of the Siddique family home.
A computer disc found hidden under a carpet during the raid contained horrific images, including Islamic extremists looting the body of a dead US serviceman.
Siddique was questioned for two weeks, then charged with four terror offences and breach of the peace.
After a four-week trial and almost nine hours of deliberation, the jury found Siddique guilty by majority of possessing items which could be used for terrorism, including CDs and videos on weapons, bomb-making and guerrilla tactics.
Siddique was unanimously convicted of setting up websites with links which showed how to use weapons and make bombs.
And he was further found guilty of using web links to distribute terror publications.
In addition, Siddique was found guilty by a majority verdict of causing a breach of the peace at his college by threatening to become a suicide bomber and blow up Glasgow, and by showing students images of suicide bombers and beheadings.
Siddique will be sentenced on October 23. Judge Lord Carloway warned him he was considering a sentence of up to 15 years, and said: "The court must take these offences extremely seriously".
Well, it seems they were right.
Ping
“Student Mohammed Siddique was just an ordinary boy living with his parents in a Scottish village.”
I didn’t realize ordinary Scottish boys were named Mohammed?
Enemy in war on terror.
I counsel death.
Occasionally, there are postings here on FR to shut down these radical and extremist websites. Just consider how important the security services’ monitoring of activity on these websites was in uncovering this and other plots. As vile as they are, allowing these websites to operate provides access to a primary communication system used by these murderers. Shutting them down, while it would make us feel better, would actually increase rather than diminish the danger because now they would be off of the radar screen.
I didn’t realize ordinary Scottish boys were named Mohammed?
Scotland had been undergoing a few changes lately.........
Considering that he was apparently apprehended at the last moment before he was going to set his plan in motion, 15 years does seem a bit light in the grand scheme of things. They are talking about 30 years for OJ Simpson, after all.
Agreed. I've heard this point made by counterterrorism specialists. It's better to keep cockroaches in view rather than allowing them to scurry under the carpet.
Take this kind of offense seriously?
If they did, this smuck would get a bullet in the brain, and dumped in a hole.
He should be put up against a wall and shot!
If they did, this smuck would get a bullet in the brain, and dumped in a hole.
"Considering" 15 years does seem a bit limp-wristed, doesn't it? But then again I suppose it seems that way to me because I'm a "warmongering Neanderthal, right-wing Yank" and I fail to see the progressive, intellectualized decision-making that has gone into the sentencing guidelines at play here.
"snort"
Angus Mac-Mohammed... sounds reasonable to me.. LOL
He should be put up against a wall and shot!
I think that you would likely be prosecuted for "racist hate speech" for making such a statement in Scotland.
(and during your prosecution, many of the beleaguered, long-suffering Scots would be quietly cheering your words)
You’re welcome.
Yes, he termed it a "failure of human understanding"
What a warm and fuzzy thing to say.
"puke"
The Radio Equalizer Brian Maloney Talk Radio, 9-11 Attacks, Governor Deval Patrick (D-MA)
I’m sure many here together with the ACLU and Leftwingers would protest not only the conviction of this terrorist but also his arrest.
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