| Britain | |
| Bangladeshi 'bomb plotter' denies charge | |
| 2011-02-03 | |
| [Bangla Daily Star] A Bangladeshi national working for British Airways (BA) in England conspired with a radical preacher to blow up a US-bound aeroplane, a London court has heard. From his Newcastle home, Rajib Karim shared details of his BA contacts in e-mails to Mohammedan holy man Anwar al-Awlaki, Woolwich Crown Court was told. The computer expert worked for the airline in the city and had access to BA offices there and at Heathrow. Karim, 31, denies plotting to blow up an aircraft and gaining a UK job to exploit terrorist purposes. He has already pleaded guilty to three other terror charges, the jury was told.
He was nabbed in February 2010 while working for the airline's call centre in Newcastle. On the first day of the trial, the court heard how Karim came to the UK in 2006 and got a job with BA. The jury was told that Karim established a "deep cover", joining a gym, playing football and never airing extreme views. It is alleged that he was communicating with a terror cell as well as Anwar al-Awlaki, who has never been caught and is believed to be hiding in the mountains of Yemen. Jonathan Laidlaw QC, prosecuting, said the defendant was preparing himself or others for terrorist attacks. He said the court would hear that Karim was an extreme jihadist. "He believes that terrorism, including the murder of civilians, is permissible to establish a true Islamic state. The defendant was anxious himself to carry out such an attack and he was determined to seek martyrdom - to die and to sacrifice himself for his cause," Laidlaw said. He also said that those who knew Karim thought he was mild-mannered. He attended two mosques--Grange Park Mosque and University of Newcastle Mosque--and was not known to hold extreme views, the court heard. Laidlaw said "It was, as far as anybody could tell a perfectly ordinary life he was living." | |
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| Britain |
| BA worker 'plotted with terror preacher Anwar al-Awlaki' |
| 2011-02-01 |
| An Islamic extremist who landed a job as a British Airways computer expert conspired with radical preacher Anwar al-Awlaki to blow up a plane bound for America, a court heard today. n secret email exchanges with radical cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, Bangladeshi Rajib Karim, 31, shared details of his BA contacts and access from his home in Brunton Lane, Newcastle, the court heard. Karim, who came to the UK in 2006, worked for BA in the city and had access to the airliner's offices there and at Heathrow. Today, Woolwich Crown Court heard Karim established a deep cover, joining a gym, playing football and never airing extreme views. All the the while, the prosecution allege, he was communicating with a terror cell and al-Awlaki who has never been caught and is believed to be hiding in the mountains of Yemen. The defendant is accused of plotting to blow up a plane, sharing information of use to hate groups such as al-Qaida, offering to help financial or disruptive attacks on BA and gaining a UK job to ''exploit terrorist purposes'', which he denies. The jury of seven men and five women were told today that Karim has already pleaded guilty to three terror charges. |
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| Britain | ||
| Suspect linked to cargo-bomb-plot-group arressted | ||
| 2010-11-04 | ||
The suspect was allegedly a member of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, the group linked to the powerful bombs hidden in printer cartridges found on US-bound cargo planes at East Midlands Airport and in Dubai on Friday. Mrs May said: "An Aqap (al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula) un-named associate was jugged here earlier this year. "He is alleged to have been planning a terrorist attack in this country. Threats such as these are likely to continue." The Home Secretary went on: "We know that people from this country have already gone to Somalia to fight. "It seems highly likely, given experience elsewhere, that if left to their own devices we would eventually see British cut-thoats, trained and hardened on the streets of Mogadishu returning to the UK and seeking to commit mass murder on the streets of London." Have you thought about deporting them to Mogadishu when they show up? Even better, to Bosassa.
She added: "The success of our domestic counter-terrorism work here depends on international co-operation and collaboration overseas. "The investigation of terrorist plots in this country will almost always lead overseas." Mrs May went on: "Most threats to the UK continue to come from the federally-administered tribal areas of Pakistain. "When we have a Pak diaspora of over one million people, and there are hundreds of thousands of journeys between our countries every year, what goes on in Pakistain matters on the streets of Britain." Mrs May said: "Where necessary we will enhance our protective security measures; we will invest in conflict prevention and stopping terrorist plots overseas; we will refocus the strategy for preventing radicalisation in the UK; and we will strike a better balance between our liberties and our security. "There is much good work under way to tackle the terrorist threat....But where there needs to be change I will not be afraid to make it." She added: "I want an approach which is more targeted against cut-thoat individuals, but that impacts much less on the good people of our communities. "I want an approach which allows people to enjoy their liberty in safety and security. "And I want an approach that is effective in dealing with an evolving threat. That is what we will deliver." Later, the British media said the alleged member of al Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula is former British Airways computer expert Rajib Karim. The 30-year-old is due to go on trial at Woolwich Crown Court in London next January charged with plotting suicide bombings, including his own death. Bangladesh-born Karim, 30, of Newcastle, northern England, is accused of being a one-man sleeper cell who infiltrated the airline as part of his plans. Counter-terrorism police investigated suspected links between him and his home country, Pakistan and Yemen. Karim was arrested during a series of raids on his home and offices of his employer on February 25, the media pointed out. | ||
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| Britain |
| British Airways worker Rajib Karim on suspected terrorism charges |
| 2010-03-11 |
| Bangladesh-born Rajib Karim, 30, of Newcastle upon Tyne, faces three charges under counter terrorism legislation. He is accused of two counts of planning suicide bombings and his own martyrdom. One charge involves the UK and the other alleges that he plotted with contacts in his home country, Pakistan and Yemen. All the garden spots ... It is alleged that he deliberately stayed in Britain, obtaining a passport and getting a job at the airline to further the conspiracy. Prosecutor Colin Gibbs told City of Westminster Magistrates' Court the charge sheet alleges he shared information about his work, including security measures, and offered to take advantage of planned strikes by BA staff to join the airline's cabin crew. The computer expert also faced a third charge alleging he collected money and transferred it through trusted associates and wire services to terrorist associates overseas. All three offences are alleged to have taken place between April 2006 and February this year. Karim was arrested by officers from Scotland Yard's Counter Terrorism Command, working with colleagues in the north east of England, on February 25. They swooped on the office complex where he worked in Newcastle as a computer software developer and searched his home in the city. Forensic specialists are continuing to sift through hundreds of files held on computers seized from his workplace and home. Urgent inquiries are also understood to be under way in Bangladesh, Pakistan and Yemen to trace the others allegedly involved. Karim, a well-built man with a thin beard and close-cropped hair, spoke only to confirm his name and date of birth during the 15-minute hearing. He wore a black fleece. His solicitor James Nicolls said he did not want his client's address made public over fears of reprisal attacks against his young family. He did not apply for bail. |
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