Free Republic

A British-born suicide bomber plotted to bring down a packed passenger aircraft over the Atlanttic at the same time that the shoe bomber Richard Reid targeted an American Airlines flight, the Old Bailey heard today. But Saajid Badat changed his mind and dismantled his own shoe bomb, which was designed to evade airport security. Badat, 25, from Gloucester, admitted conspiring to blow up an aircraft between January 1 1999 and November 28, 2003 in a surprise change of plea today. He had been due to stand trial for the offence. Intelligence services believe Badat had been conspiring with Reid, a...

British Muslim Sajid Badat has been remanded in custody after appearing at Bow Street magistrates court in London charged with conspiring with shoe bomber Richard Reid to cause a life-threatening explosion. Badat, 24, of St James Street, Gloucester, was arrested by anti-terrorist police last week in the first of a series of raids nationwide. Badat has been charged with unlawfully and maliciously conspiring with Richard Reid and others to cause an explosion, and two further charges of possessing explosive materials, Scotland Yard said. Reid, 29, who tried to blow up a transatlantic jet with explosives hidden in his footwear, began...

Los Angeles -- Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said Thursday he was blindsided by President Bush's announcement of new details on a purported 2002 hijacking plot aimed at a downtown skyscraper, and described communication with the White House as "nonexistent." "I'm amazed that the president would make this (announcement) on national TV and not inform us of these details through the appropriate channels," the mayor said in an interview with The Associated Press. "I don't expect a call from the president — but somebody." The mayor also suggested that some funding from the Iraq war could be redirected to homeland security, which...