Posted on 11/07/2006 6:43:58 AM PST by PRePublic
The British fanatic who plotted to kill thousandsBy Duncan Gardham Last Updated: 11:12am GMT 07/11/2006 Read Dhiren Barot's book: The Army of Madinah in Kashmir (pdf) A British al-Qa'eda fanatic plotted to murder thousands of innocent people on both sides of the Atlantic, a court heard yesterday. The detailed plans presented to terrorist handlers by Muslim convert Dhiren Barot revealed his goal of striking at major buildings and railway stations with gas bombs in cars, detonating a radioactive dirty bomb and blowing up a train under the Thames in London.
Dhiren Barot, from London, plotted explosions Woolwich Crown Court heard that 34-year-old Barot had led a "sleeper cell" planning attacks in New York, Washington, London and across Britain. In an encrypted document called Radioactive Children inside a file called Brad Pitt, the Londoner outlined plans for a dirty bomb in the capital. Barot wrote that a radioactive device would "produce general panic, health consequences including immediate fatalities and long-term increases in cancer incidence, long-term denial of property use, disruption of services and property and facility decontamination needs". Among the targets considered were the New York Stock Exchange, IMF and World Bank in Washington and the headquarters of Citigroup and Prudential. advertisement
Edmund Lawson, QC, for the Crown, told the two-day sentencing hearing that Barot switched his attention to Britain after the al-Qa'eda attacks on September 11 2001. He drew up a list of central London hotels including the Savoy, Ritz, Dorchester, Metropole, Lanesborough, Berkeley, Hyatt Carlton Tower, InterContinental and Marriott Marble Arch. Next to the Savoy he wrote: "Rear easy and enclosed but deserted except for laundry room etc." Another list appeared to be of railway stations Waterloo, Paddington and King's Cross. In a computer document found on a laptop in Pakistan, Barot had also suggested attacking Tube trains as they passed under the Thames. "Imagine the chaos that would be caused if a powerful explosion were to rip through here and actually rupture the river itself," he wrote. "That would cause pandemonium, what with the explosions, flooding, drowning etc that would occur."
Mr Lawson said Barot was a member or close associate of al-Qa'eda and "the organiser of a major terrorist activity designed to strike at the very heart of both America and the United Kingdom and to cause loss of human life on a massive scale". "The plan was to carry out massive explosions here and in the USA, the principal object being to kill hundreds, if not thousands, of innocent people without warning." Writing after the Madrid attacks in March 2004, Barot said it was a "respectable project that deserves to be emulated". Barot said he had a "friend who is a train driver" who would take people with him in his cab who were not railway staff. The same document told of plans to fill limousines with gas canisters and drive them into car parks beneath important buildings where they would be blown up. He called the document the Final Presentation for Gas Limos Project. In it, Barot said his aim was "projects planned to be co-ordinated back to back, as they were with 9/11, thus forming another black day for the enemies of Islam and a victory for the Muslims". Mr Lawson said the proposals were almost business plans for approval and funding which were "for presentation to al-Qa'eda bosses". As part of the US proposals, Barot made a video of his targets in April 2001, which was later found sandwiched in a video of Die Hard with a Vengeance, a film about terrorist attacks on New York. Although he did not focus on the World Trade Centre, Barot did film it and is heard on the soundtrack making the sound of an explosion. Mr Lawson said he could not prove foreknowledge of September 11 but added: "As a minimum it does demonstrate a more than unhealthy and violent interest in attacks on iconic buildings such as the World Trade Centre."
The court heard that Barot had travelled to Kashmir with a friend in 1995 where he had joined Islamic fighters. He made extensive notes in a Punchline A4 notepad which included details of how to build "a good lab", diagrams of basic homemade bombs involving TNT, dynamite or nitro glycerine, and poisons including gases and ricin. Later, as he planned his attacks in Britain, Barot bought a copy of the Hazardous Chemical Handbook and used a forged pass to do research at Brunel University in west London.
His presentation on US targets ran to well over 100 pages and included a history of the buildings, details of the uniforms of security guards and where to get copies and escape routes for the bombers. "I have left no stone unturned in my investigations and have spent countless weeks, days, hours and months poring over the literature," he added. He signed off with his al-Qa'eda pseudonym, EaB, for Esa al-Britani, and added: "Mistakes: none that come to mind." But MI5 identified Barot in June 2004 and began a huge surveillance operation, only to lose him five weeks later. He resurfaced on Aug 5 and was arrested as he waited for a haircut at a barber shop in Willesden, north London. Barot has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to murder and faces life in jail. He is expected to be sentenced today. Seven other men deny all charges.
So far, the only American Muslims who have plotted to attack their country have been converts. Although this guy also was a convert, the London and Madrid train bombings were from native Muslims (Muslim by birth).
No worries, we'll all be much safer once the dems take over! /s
"Man sentenced to 40 years in mass-murder terror plot "
Still, we do not understand the importance of words... in, in Israel, they call him "a man" and not "a terrorist" ....
Good analysis.
It was the exact title in the British (LEFTY) Guardian before that.
BBC: Prosecution case against al-Qaeda Briton
Video at website....
Do you remember when the threat level was raised to high in August 2004 right after the Dem Convention? Do you remember hearing this kind of stuff then?
First from WRONG AGAIN Larry Johnson stalwart defender of the kingdom of Wilson-Plame and VIPS leader:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=3809463
Expert: Terror Threat Warning 'Irresponsible'
by Steve Inskeep
Morning Edition, August 2, 2004 • Larry Johnson, a former counter-terrorism official at the CIA and State Department, calls the Bush administration "irresponsible" for raising the terror threat level. Johnson says intelligence suggests attacks on U.S. financial institutions have been considered -- not that they are in the works. He speaks with NPR's Steve Inskeep.
And this other piece of slime from The Nation:
http://www.davidsirota.com/index.php/vote-for-bush-or-die/
A few days later–during the period when attention to nominee Kerry would traditionally lead to a bounce in popularity–Ridge announced that he was raising the threat level in New York City, Northern New Jersey and the District of Columbia to “Code Orange.” He claimed the threat level was being raised because of “new and unusually specific information about where Al Qaeda would like to attack.” Undermining his claim that “we don’t do politics in the Department of Homeland Security,” he wove a campaign-style endorsement of the President into his warning: “We must understand that the kind of information available to us today is the result of the President’s leadership in the war against terror,” Ridge declared just a few breaths after invoking frightening images of “explosives,” “weapons of mass destruction” and “biological pathogens.”
But Ridge neglected to mention that most of the information was at least three years old, much of it surveillance data that had been collected before 9/11. Ridge also conceded that New York City–which was already at “Code Orange” before his announcement–would not raise its level of alert.
A week later the right-wing media did its best to deflect the embarrassment by once again dredging up the myth that a vote against Bush is a vote for terrorists.
There's lots more of this kind of foolishness out there. These people think we're playing some kind of a game.
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