Post by Deleted on Feb 22, 2013 8:27:04 GMT 10
In one chilling warning, Naseer was covertly recorded saying of the UK - "The only thing you will achieve is suicide bombers on your streets, spilling so much blood you'll have nightmares for the rest of your life."
Thank you to our wonderful Western govts for making this all so possible!! The terrorists are Pakistani ... you know the ones who masquerade as Afghans to get into the West. We have them here coming over by the boatload and without ID our stupid govt lets them in.
I suppose the loony lefties here will say that M15 is racist and xenophobic organisation for having these terrorists under constant surveillance. Wonder how much our govts pay out in surveillance costs for the muslim community? Better not know!! Add that to the massive welfare bill for a community that doesn't work or contribute anything to the host country and you would have to ask why we allow them into the West seeing as they are such a danger to innocent people. Home grown too ... as we see far too often.
Click on the link at the end of the article to view dozens of photos taken by surveillance police showing the terrorists and the evidence.
DAILY MAIL ONLINE
'Boom, boom, boom everywhere... kill': Chilling words of British Muslim terrorists' ringleader as he plotted to murder 2,000 people in Al-Qaeda-backed atrocity in supermarkets and town centres
* Irfan Naseer, 31, Irfan Khalid, 27, and Ashik Ali, 27, wanted 'to rival 9/11'
* Ringleaders spent years travelling to Pakistan for 'terror training'
* Al-Qaeda backed group made videos to play after they blew themselves up
* Terror cell raised funds by posing as bogus charity workers in street
Plotted 'spectacular campaign' from makeshift bomb factory in council flat
Eight suicide bombers would have claimed more lives than 7/7, police say
But deadly plan was discovered after bugs were planted in Birmingham flat
Police then found explosives in Midlands when plot was at advanced stage
By Martin Robinson
PUBLISHED:13:06 GMT, 21 February 2013| UPDATED: 19:50 GMT, 21 February 2013
The leader of an Al Qaeda-backed British Muslim gang who plotted the deadliest terror attack on British soil boasted of a nailbomb attack that could kill 2,000 people, shouting: 'Boom, boom, boom everywhere...kill.'
Chilling police recordings capture Irfan Naseer saying Westerners deserve to be 'terrorised' because 'they wanna have sex like donkeys on the street'.
He adds: 'Why shouldn't we terrorise them, tell me that? You think about it, if someone came in your house, yeah, and started dancing and throughout the night and started basically having orgies and smoking drugs and stuff...you would terrorise them, innit.'
In one sick exchange, another of the terrorists compared the gang to Formula One drivers, saying: 'It's the four suicide bombers driving around ready to take on England.'
Irfan Naseer, 31, Irfan Khalid, 27, and Ashik Ali, 27, all from Birmingham, were convicted of plotting the 'spectacular campaign' designed to claim as many lives as the 2005 London Underground bombs that killed 52 innocent people
Inspired by hate preacher Anwar al-Awlaki's online sermons, the homegrown jihadis planned a huge series of explosions at crowded shopping centres and railway stations across Britain.
Two of them travelled to Pakistan to learn about bomb-making, weapons and poisons - then came back to their council-funded flat in Birmingham to make explosives.
The trio, who met at school and called themselves the Four Lions after the black comedy film by Chris Morris, even funded the plot by pretending to be Muslim Aid charity street collectors.
Judge Justice Henriques said: 'You were seeking to recruit a team of suicide bombers to carry out a spectacular bombing campaign, one which would create an anniversary along the lines of 7/7 or 9/11'.
'The joker': Ashik Ali joked that the terrorists were like the cell depicted in the comedy film 'Four Lions'
'The bomb plotters had the means, the will and the know-how to carry out mass murder in the biggest terror attack on the British mainland 'in a generation', detectives said.
It is the most significant terror plot to be uncovered since the 2006 conspiracy to blow up transatlantic airliners using bombs disguised as soft drinks.
Naseer was found guilty of five counts preparing for terrorism, Khalid was convicted of four, and Ali was convicted of three, all between Christmas Day 2010 and September 19 2011.
Six other men have already admitted or been found guilty of being part of the terror cell, it can also be revealed today.
The friends from the Midlands had been visiting Pakistan to train how to make bombs and use weapons since March 2009.
But by 2011 they were being watched by MI5 and police, who had bugged their car and headquarters.
The investigation, known as Operation Examine/Pitsford, grew to be the 450-strong counter-terror unit’s largest ever.
In one chilling warning, Naseer was covertly recorded saying of the UK: 'The only thing you will achieve is suicide bombers on your streets, spilling so much blood you’ll have nightmares for the rest of your life.'
Khalid even boasted that the attack was 'another 9/11' as 'revenge for everything'.
As well as planning a series of suicide bombing, the cell was also heard talking about the possibility of mixing poison into creams such as Vaseline or Nivea and smearing them on car handles to cause mass deaths.
The trio even pondered welding blades to a truck and driving it into people.
Although the gang had not identified targets, the explosive trainings both Nasser and Khalid received at terror training camps in Pakistan meant they were capable of building viable IEDs.
If they were unable to make viable bombs, they planned to storm synagogues armed with automatic weapons including AK47s.
Collecting for terror: Irfan Naseer left and Irfan Khalid holding bucket undertake bogus charity collections in Birmingham to secretly raise funds for their bombing campaign
Counter-terrorism specialist for the CPS, Karen Jones, said the 'Four Lions' jihadiists were planning to kill more innocent people than the 52 murdered in the 7/7 bombings.
Ms Jones said: 'These men had dangerous aspirations and whilst the precise targets remained unclear, the potential for damage and loss of life from their plot should not be underestimated.
'The evidence which we put to the court showed the defendants discussing with awe and admiration the attacks of 9/11 and 7/7. These terrorists wanted to do something bigger, speaking of how 7/7 had 'gone a bit wrong'.
'Having travelled to Pakistan for expert training and preparation, Naseer and Khalid returned to the UK where they discussed attacks involving up to eight rucksacks. Had they not been stopped, the consequences would have been catastrophic.
'We pieced together over 25,000 pages of served evidence with video and audio. It was like a complex jigsaw puzzle leading to a strong and compelling case. Today has shown that even when some preparation for acts of terrorism takes place abroad, perpetrators can and will face justice in British courts.'
The three principal drivers behind the plot were men who initially sounded an unlikely trio to carry out such an atrocity.
Irfan Naseer, 31, was an overweight, unemployed pharmacy graduate - with the nicknames Chubbs and Big Irfan - who according to his own mother was 'a mummy's boy'.
The father of Irfan Khalid, 27, said a medical condition would have made it unlikely he could have taken any practical part in carrying out the attack, while Ashik Ali, 29, was registered partially sighted.
There were calamitous moments as they worked on their murderous plot.
They tried to raise money through bogus charity collections but ended up losing thousands playing foreign currency markets and had to apply for loans.
And a note setting out the requirements for their homemade explosives was supposed to have been burned in a pan, but the process produced so much smoke it was never properly destroyed.
Senior investigating officer Detective Inspector Adam Gough said the men were 'the real deal' and, if successful in detonating their devices, would have perpetrated 'another 9/11 or another 7/7 in the UK'.
It was Naseer's training in chemistry - and later training at a Pakistani terror camp - which gave him the know-how to draw up a blueprint of a viable improvised explosive device.
No precise targets were discussed by the three men but Mr Gough said the attack would have involved 'eight exploding rucksacks in crowded places', while Ali hinted in a police interview that 'soldiers' might have been the target - while later claiming he made this up.
It is also unclear when the attack was planned, although the group made references to 'five months, a year, and two years', Mr Gough said.
.
The MI5 surveillance and bugged recordings painted a picture of incompetence as the men plotted their attacks.
Mixing in street slang with jihadi rhetoric, they justify their plot by saying Westerners deserve to be 'terrorised'.
Naseer says: 'They wanna have sex like donkeys on the street, they wanna club, act like animals and why shouldn't we terrorise them, tell me that? You think about it, if someone came in your house, yeah, and started dancing and throughout the night and started basically having orgies and smoking drugs and stuff...you would terrorise them, innit.'
In another recording, taken from their car, the men compared themselves to Formula One drivers.
Mr Altman said: 'They pretended they were going really fast taking over cars, saying there were no cars in front or behind them.
'They had just taken over Jenson Button and Nigel Mansell where is he?
Then Khalid says: 'It's the four suicide bombers driving around ready to take on England. Oh my God take them out.'
Naseer later anticipates killing 2,000 people in nailbomb attacks, outlining his plan as: 'Boom, boom, boom everywhere...kill.'
For Naseer, from Sparkhill, Khalid, from Sparkbrook, and Ali, from Balsall Heath, this included planning a bombing campaign, collecting money for terrorism and recruiting others for terrorism.
Naseer and Khalid also travelled to Pakistan for training, and Naseer helped others travel to the country for the same purpose.
Prosecutor Brian Altman QC told the jury: 'The police successfully disrupted a plan to commit an act or acts of terrorism on a scale potentially greater than the London bombings in July 2005, had it been allowed to run its course.
'The defendants were proposing to detonate up to eight rucksack bombs in a suicide attack and/or to detonate bombs on timers in crowded areas in order to cause mass deaths and casualties.'
Naseer and Khalid both travelled to terrorist training camps in Pakistan between 2009 and 2011 to learn about bomb-making, poisons and firearms.
They raised £12,000 for themselves in this way, but were forced to apply for tens of thousands of pounds in loans after losing more than £9,000 of the money playing foreign currency markets.
The 'joker' of the gang, Ashik Ali, referred to the cell as 'Four Lions' in reference to Chris Morris's award-winning black comedy.
The film is a jihad satire following a group of homegrown terrorist jihadis from Sheffield, South Yorkshire, who dress in comedy costumes including the Honey Monster, a man riding an ostrich, a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle and an inverted clown.
But they disagree about what to target one member detonates his bomb using a mobile phone, killing a fellow terrorist and the police.
In a reference to the black comedy film, Ali also told his estranged wife Salma Kabal: 'Oh, you think this is a flipping Four Lions. We're one man short.'
In a reference to the black comedy film, Ali also told his estranged wife Salma Kabal: 'Oh, you think this is a flipping Four Lions. We're one man short.'
Mr Justice Henriques told the trio that they will all face life in prison when they are sentenced in April or May.
Speaking to Naseer, he said he had been convicted on 'overwhelming evidence' and that he will face 'a very long minimum term'. The judge said: 'You are a highly skilled bomb maker and explosives expert. Your mindset was similarly manifest.
'You sought to persuade others that a terror plot here in this country was by far preferable to fighting jihad abroad.'It's clear that you were planning a terrorist outrage in Birmingham.'Mr Justice Henriques told the trio that they will all face life in prison when they are sentenced in April or May.
Senior investigating officer Detective Inspector Adam Gough said: 'From covert recordings from the address at 23 White Street, the group had talked of their need to keep the operation a secret.
BRITISH GROUP WERE INSPIRED BY BIN LADEN'S NUMBER TWO
The three men convicted today were obsessed and influenced by the hate-preaching of one man.
US-born terrorist Anwar al-Awlaki (pictured) was one of al-Qaeda's top generals, encouraging attacks on the West and also recruiting young Muslims to carry them out.
Awlaki, who was born in New Mexico, had become the lead figure for al-Qaeda and the offshoot al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula in the years after Osama bin Laden went into hiding.
The CIA went on to assassinate al-Awlaki in a drone attack because he was known to have preached to the 9/11 hijackers and even booked their aeroplane tickets.
His videos were found across Britain in terrorist homes and in an extreme bookshop used by the 7/7 attackers.
Before his death, he was believed to be responsible for persuading Nigerian terrorist Omar Farouk Abdulmuttalab to conceal explosives in his underwear which he tried to use to blow up a Detroit-bound plane on December 25, 2009.
He also played a role in the 2009 Fort Hood massacre and the failed plot by Faisal Shahzad to detonate an SUV filled with explosives on May 1, 2010.
'They put up black curtains at the house, and they made reference to their concerns they might be under surveillance.
'We could hear them - and we heard them discussing the 'martyr' (July 7 bomber) Mohammed Sidique Khan, and they discussed how much chemicals they would need.
'Naseer referred to "seven or eight in different places - boom, boom, boom".'
By September 16 2011, the three men were 'experimenting with chemicals and home-made explosive', said Mr Gough, and the police acted.
There was a fear that they might try to test a device, putting members of the public at risk.
Late on the night of September 18, officers swooped on the men's car when it drove along a suburban street as they were heading out to get takeaway food.
All three were arrested, and in the next two hours 14 warrants were carried out on addresses across Birmingham.
Among the addresses raided was the group's safe house, where further evidence of the men's attempts to make a bomb was recovered, including a sports injury cool pack which Naseer had mistakenly believed would contain ammonium nitrate - a key bomb-making ingredient.
A partially-burned note written by Naseer detailing how to make what an expert witness said during the trial would have made a viable bomb was also recovered.
Mr Gough said: 'Naseer had told Ali to burn the note but it wasn't done properly, and Naseer later admitted he had written it.'
The note detailed the chemicals, the amounts and mixtures of how to make explosives, although they never got as far as creating a bomb and carrying out their threats.
In one chilling warning, Naseer was covertly recorded saying of the UK: 'The only thing you will achieve is suicide bombers on your streets, spilling so much blood you'll have nightmares for the rest of your life.'
The men had been under MI5 surveillance, and the bugged recordings painted a picture of incompetence as they plotted their attacks.
The plot hit a snag when, Rahin Ahmed, the cell's chief fundraiser, who admitted the charges, lost more than £9,000 of the group's cash they raised in a bad investments on the money market.
His fellow jihadists ordered him to sell his Honda Civic to make up the loss.
Rather than sell his car, he turned to payday loan firm Yes Loans to make up the missing cash, but was left empty-handed when the firm ruled he did not meet their criteria.
They then suggested setting up stalls around the country selling cakes and perfume and do door-to-door collections to raise cash.
They also applied for bank loans worth £33,000 from two different branches of Barclay's on the same day but were again unsuccessful.
CHARITY ‘VICTIM’ OF TERROR FRAUD
The charity whose name was misused by three men to raise money for terrorism insisted today that it has improved the security of its street collections.
Irfan Naseer, 31, Irfan Khalid, 27, and Ashik Ali, 27, all from Birmingham, were part of a group which collected £13,500 that was supposed to be for Muslim Aid.
However only around £1,500 of the cash actually went to the charity, while the rest was intended for the group to fund terrorist atrocities.
Today Muslim Aid said: 'We welcome the conviction and sentencing of the individuals who were not Muslim Aid volunteers but used our name and property to collect funds illegally for their intended criminal activity.
'We would like to reassure the public that we have taken steps to improve the security of our street collections and branded property. We encourage our donors to check the credentials of collectors when they are approached for donations.'
The charity uses funds to support anti-poverty projects around the world, including supporting elderly people and the homeless in the UK.
On another occasion they decided to make a bomb out of a cold pack used for sports injuries, believing it contained ammonium nitrate.
They rowed over who should buy the pack - with Naseer, nicknamed Chubbs, refusing as he was too fat to be a believable athlete.
Ali went in his place but in the end there was no ammonium nitrate in the pack they brought.
When they did get round to making a bomb, Ali managed to spill chemicals on his hands, saying 'I've done my fingers man, is it dangerous if you get it on your fingers? It's like acid, innit?'
Naseer, drawing from his experience at terror camp, replies: 'Yeah, it's painful man. You won't die, it'll make you ill a bit'.
Realising the trail of evidence, the men attempt to destroy their paperwork.
But, said Mr Altman, they 'did not make a very good job of it' as police found it largely intact in a rubbish bin in Ali's kitchen.
Eleven men and one woman have been charged over the alleged plot. Some have since pleaded guilty while others await trial.
The six that have admitted terror offences, who are also from Birmingham, are Rahin Ahmed 26, from Moseley; Mujahid Hussain, 21, from Yardley; Naweed Ali, 25, Ishaaq Hussain, 21, Khobaib Hussain, 22, and Shahid Khan, 21, all from Sparkhill.
Salma Kabal, 23, of Alum Rock, Birmingham, will go on trial later this year, accused of not alerting the authorities to the plot.
Also facing trial are Rizwan, of Ward End, Birmingham, and Bahader Ali, of Sparkbrook, Birmingham, who deny involvement with the terror cell.
CONSPIRACY : WHY DID NO ONE IN PLOTTERS’ COMMUNITY TIP OFF POLICE?
Nobody in the bomb plotters' own community tipped the police off with their concerns, despite finding out they were sending young men to terror training camps in Pakistan.
At no point during the 18-month investigation by the West Midlands counter-terrorism unit did anyone in Birmingham's Muslim community inform on the behaviour of Irfan Naseer, Irfan Khalid (together right) and Ashik Ali, raising questions over the health of relations between officers and community leaders.
This was despite the fact the families of four other young men recruited from Sparkhill all intervened to bring them back home the moment they found out the real reasons for them travelling to Pakistan.
Detective Inspector Adam Gough, senior investigating officer, said the extended families of the four men had 'become aware' of why they went to Pakistan but, in any case, 'did not tell us'.
Ishaaq Hussain, Shahid Khan, Khobaib Hussain and Naweed Ali were told to tell loved ones they were studying at madrassas if asked.
Police and security services were aware the four were travelling but decided against stopping them to preserve the surveillance operation (below) and because evidence-gathering was in the early stages.
According to detectives, none of the men received any terror training as they left the camps after a day.
Mr Gough said: 'We know pressure was applied to them to come back.
'Shahid Khan virtually ran home. Three of the four came back almost immediately, while the fourth stayed with his family in Pakistan.
'We know that they did reach a training camp.
'But it is a success story in that the families did bring those people back and it shows the vast majority of the community abhor terrorism in the same way we do.'
Community engagement - under what the police call the Prevent programme - is supposed to form a cornerstone of the UK counter-terrorism policing strategy.
Prevent aims to respond 'to the ideological challenge of terrorism' by 'developing partnerships' with communities, thereby preventing people being 'drawn into terrorism'.
Assistant Chief Constable Marcus Beale, who is responsible for counter-terrorism at West Midlands Police, said: 'The families were trying to do their best to get them back and stop them getting into trouble, rather than get in touch with us.
'I agree it would have been really good if more could have been shared with us, and we could have dealt with it in a different way.
'In terms of community engagement, would I like them to come forward more? Yes, I would.
'Do I think they (the Muslim community) were being disruptive - no, I do not.'
Mr Beale also said he believed the two local charitable organisations on whose behalf the three men had masqueraded to raise money "were duped, rather than being complicit'.
He added: 'We want to help make sure they (the charities) are not quite so easily duped in the future.'
Some of that money scammed from charities was actually gambled away by another member of the group, Rahin Ahmed, who was given the task of playing the financial markets to try to increase the group's cash reserves.
He previously admitted engaging in conduct in preparation of acts of terror, encouraging acts of terror, collecting money for terrorism and assisting other to travel for training in terrorism.
On one occasion, Ahmed - an unemployed law graduate who was a community worker with one of the charities - lost £3,000 when he left his computer screen for five minutes to boil a kettle.
He tried to recover some of his losses, but in total lost £9,000 of the £14,500 invested.
There was talk in the group of acquiring a shop, as a front for a bomb factory at the back of the premises, but Ahmed lost too much money and the idea had to be dropped.
Mr Beale said the police do not know how much money the group collected.
Read more: www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2282251/Three-British-Muslims-guilty-plotting-7-7-terrorist-attack-team-8-suicide-bombers.html#ixzz2LZZFMNGk
Thank you to our wonderful Western govts for making this all so possible!! The terrorists are Pakistani ... you know the ones who masquerade as Afghans to get into the West. We have them here coming over by the boatload and without ID our stupid govt lets them in.
I suppose the loony lefties here will say that M15 is racist and xenophobic organisation for having these terrorists under constant surveillance. Wonder how much our govts pay out in surveillance costs for the muslim community? Better not know!! Add that to the massive welfare bill for a community that doesn't work or contribute anything to the host country and you would have to ask why we allow them into the West seeing as they are such a danger to innocent people. Home grown too ... as we see far too often.
Click on the link at the end of the article to view dozens of photos taken by surveillance police showing the terrorists and the evidence.
DAILY MAIL ONLINE
'Boom, boom, boom everywhere... kill': Chilling words of British Muslim terrorists' ringleader as he plotted to murder 2,000 people in Al-Qaeda-backed atrocity in supermarkets and town centres
* Irfan Naseer, 31, Irfan Khalid, 27, and Ashik Ali, 27, wanted 'to rival 9/11'
* Ringleaders spent years travelling to Pakistan for 'terror training'
* Al-Qaeda backed group made videos to play after they blew themselves up
* Terror cell raised funds by posing as bogus charity workers in street
Plotted 'spectacular campaign' from makeshift bomb factory in council flat
Eight suicide bombers would have claimed more lives than 7/7, police say
But deadly plan was discovered after bugs were planted in Birmingham flat
Police then found explosives in Midlands when plot was at advanced stage
By Martin Robinson
PUBLISHED:13:06 GMT, 21 February 2013| UPDATED: 19:50 GMT, 21 February 2013
The leader of an Al Qaeda-backed British Muslim gang who plotted the deadliest terror attack on British soil boasted of a nailbomb attack that could kill 2,000 people, shouting: 'Boom, boom, boom everywhere...kill.'
Chilling police recordings capture Irfan Naseer saying Westerners deserve to be 'terrorised' because 'they wanna have sex like donkeys on the street'.
He adds: 'Why shouldn't we terrorise them, tell me that? You think about it, if someone came in your house, yeah, and started dancing and throughout the night and started basically having orgies and smoking drugs and stuff...you would terrorise them, innit.'
In one sick exchange, another of the terrorists compared the gang to Formula One drivers, saying: 'It's the four suicide bombers driving around ready to take on England.'
Irfan Naseer, 31, Irfan Khalid, 27, and Ashik Ali, 27, all from Birmingham, were convicted of plotting the 'spectacular campaign' designed to claim as many lives as the 2005 London Underground bombs that killed 52 innocent people
Inspired by hate preacher Anwar al-Awlaki's online sermons, the homegrown jihadis planned a huge series of explosions at crowded shopping centres and railway stations across Britain.
Two of them travelled to Pakistan to learn about bomb-making, weapons and poisons - then came back to their council-funded flat in Birmingham to make explosives.
The trio, who met at school and called themselves the Four Lions after the black comedy film by Chris Morris, even funded the plot by pretending to be Muslim Aid charity street collectors.
Judge Justice Henriques said: 'You were seeking to recruit a team of suicide bombers to carry out a spectacular bombing campaign, one which would create an anniversary along the lines of 7/7 or 9/11'.
'The joker': Ashik Ali joked that the terrorists were like the cell depicted in the comedy film 'Four Lions'
'The bomb plotters had the means, the will and the know-how to carry out mass murder in the biggest terror attack on the British mainland 'in a generation', detectives said.
It is the most significant terror plot to be uncovered since the 2006 conspiracy to blow up transatlantic airliners using bombs disguised as soft drinks.
Naseer was found guilty of five counts preparing for terrorism, Khalid was convicted of four, and Ali was convicted of three, all between Christmas Day 2010 and September 19 2011.
Six other men have already admitted or been found guilty of being part of the terror cell, it can also be revealed today.
The friends from the Midlands had been visiting Pakistan to train how to make bombs and use weapons since March 2009.
But by 2011 they were being watched by MI5 and police, who had bugged their car and headquarters.
The investigation, known as Operation Examine/Pitsford, grew to be the 450-strong counter-terror unit’s largest ever.
In one chilling warning, Naseer was covertly recorded saying of the UK: 'The only thing you will achieve is suicide bombers on your streets, spilling so much blood you’ll have nightmares for the rest of your life.'
Khalid even boasted that the attack was 'another 9/11' as 'revenge for everything'.
As well as planning a series of suicide bombing, the cell was also heard talking about the possibility of mixing poison into creams such as Vaseline or Nivea and smearing them on car handles to cause mass deaths.
The trio even pondered welding blades to a truck and driving it into people.
Although the gang had not identified targets, the explosive trainings both Nasser and Khalid received at terror training camps in Pakistan meant they were capable of building viable IEDs.
If they were unable to make viable bombs, they planned to storm synagogues armed with automatic weapons including AK47s.
Collecting for terror: Irfan Naseer left and Irfan Khalid holding bucket undertake bogus charity collections in Birmingham to secretly raise funds for their bombing campaign
Counter-terrorism specialist for the CPS, Karen Jones, said the 'Four Lions' jihadiists were planning to kill more innocent people than the 52 murdered in the 7/7 bombings.
Ms Jones said: 'These men had dangerous aspirations and whilst the precise targets remained unclear, the potential for damage and loss of life from their plot should not be underestimated.
'The evidence which we put to the court showed the defendants discussing with awe and admiration the attacks of 9/11 and 7/7. These terrorists wanted to do something bigger, speaking of how 7/7 had 'gone a bit wrong'.
'Having travelled to Pakistan for expert training and preparation, Naseer and Khalid returned to the UK where they discussed attacks involving up to eight rucksacks. Had they not been stopped, the consequences would have been catastrophic.
'We pieced together over 25,000 pages of served evidence with video and audio. It was like a complex jigsaw puzzle leading to a strong and compelling case. Today has shown that even when some preparation for acts of terrorism takes place abroad, perpetrators can and will face justice in British courts.'
The three principal drivers behind the plot were men who initially sounded an unlikely trio to carry out such an atrocity.
Irfan Naseer, 31, was an overweight, unemployed pharmacy graduate - with the nicknames Chubbs and Big Irfan - who according to his own mother was 'a mummy's boy'.
The father of Irfan Khalid, 27, said a medical condition would have made it unlikely he could have taken any practical part in carrying out the attack, while Ashik Ali, 29, was registered partially sighted.
There were calamitous moments as they worked on their murderous plot.
They tried to raise money through bogus charity collections but ended up losing thousands playing foreign currency markets and had to apply for loans.
And a note setting out the requirements for their homemade explosives was supposed to have been burned in a pan, but the process produced so much smoke it was never properly destroyed.
Senior investigating officer Detective Inspector Adam Gough said the men were 'the real deal' and, if successful in detonating their devices, would have perpetrated 'another 9/11 or another 7/7 in the UK'.
It was Naseer's training in chemistry - and later training at a Pakistani terror camp - which gave him the know-how to draw up a blueprint of a viable improvised explosive device.
No precise targets were discussed by the three men but Mr Gough said the attack would have involved 'eight exploding rucksacks in crowded places', while Ali hinted in a police interview that 'soldiers' might have been the target - while later claiming he made this up.
It is also unclear when the attack was planned, although the group made references to 'five months, a year, and two years', Mr Gough said.
.
The MI5 surveillance and bugged recordings painted a picture of incompetence as the men plotted their attacks.
Mixing in street slang with jihadi rhetoric, they justify their plot by saying Westerners deserve to be 'terrorised'.
Naseer says: 'They wanna have sex like donkeys on the street, they wanna club, act like animals and why shouldn't we terrorise them, tell me that? You think about it, if someone came in your house, yeah, and started dancing and throughout the night and started basically having orgies and smoking drugs and stuff...you would terrorise them, innit.'
In another recording, taken from their car, the men compared themselves to Formula One drivers.
Mr Altman said: 'They pretended they were going really fast taking over cars, saying there were no cars in front or behind them.
'They had just taken over Jenson Button and Nigel Mansell where is he?
Then Khalid says: 'It's the four suicide bombers driving around ready to take on England. Oh my God take them out.'
Naseer later anticipates killing 2,000 people in nailbomb attacks, outlining his plan as: 'Boom, boom, boom everywhere...kill.'
For Naseer, from Sparkhill, Khalid, from Sparkbrook, and Ali, from Balsall Heath, this included planning a bombing campaign, collecting money for terrorism and recruiting others for terrorism.
Naseer and Khalid also travelled to Pakistan for training, and Naseer helped others travel to the country for the same purpose.
Prosecutor Brian Altman QC told the jury: 'The police successfully disrupted a plan to commit an act or acts of terrorism on a scale potentially greater than the London bombings in July 2005, had it been allowed to run its course.
'The defendants were proposing to detonate up to eight rucksack bombs in a suicide attack and/or to detonate bombs on timers in crowded areas in order to cause mass deaths and casualties.'
Naseer and Khalid both travelled to terrorist training camps in Pakistan between 2009 and 2011 to learn about bomb-making, poisons and firearms.
They raised £12,000 for themselves in this way, but were forced to apply for tens of thousands of pounds in loans after losing more than £9,000 of the money playing foreign currency markets.
The 'joker' of the gang, Ashik Ali, referred to the cell as 'Four Lions' in reference to Chris Morris's award-winning black comedy.
The film is a jihad satire following a group of homegrown terrorist jihadis from Sheffield, South Yorkshire, who dress in comedy costumes including the Honey Monster, a man riding an ostrich, a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle and an inverted clown.
But they disagree about what to target one member detonates his bomb using a mobile phone, killing a fellow terrorist and the police.
In a reference to the black comedy film, Ali also told his estranged wife Salma Kabal: 'Oh, you think this is a flipping Four Lions. We're one man short.'
In a reference to the black comedy film, Ali also told his estranged wife Salma Kabal: 'Oh, you think this is a flipping Four Lions. We're one man short.'
Mr Justice Henriques told the trio that they will all face life in prison when they are sentenced in April or May.
Speaking to Naseer, he said he had been convicted on 'overwhelming evidence' and that he will face 'a very long minimum term'. The judge said: 'You are a highly skilled bomb maker and explosives expert. Your mindset was similarly manifest.
'You sought to persuade others that a terror plot here in this country was by far preferable to fighting jihad abroad.'It's clear that you were planning a terrorist outrage in Birmingham.'Mr Justice Henriques told the trio that they will all face life in prison when they are sentenced in April or May.
Senior investigating officer Detective Inspector Adam Gough said: 'From covert recordings from the address at 23 White Street, the group had talked of their need to keep the operation a secret.
BRITISH GROUP WERE INSPIRED BY BIN LADEN'S NUMBER TWO
The three men convicted today were obsessed and influenced by the hate-preaching of one man.
US-born terrorist Anwar al-Awlaki (pictured) was one of al-Qaeda's top generals, encouraging attacks on the West and also recruiting young Muslims to carry them out.
Awlaki, who was born in New Mexico, had become the lead figure for al-Qaeda and the offshoot al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula in the years after Osama bin Laden went into hiding.
The CIA went on to assassinate al-Awlaki in a drone attack because he was known to have preached to the 9/11 hijackers and even booked their aeroplane tickets.
His videos were found across Britain in terrorist homes and in an extreme bookshop used by the 7/7 attackers.
Before his death, he was believed to be responsible for persuading Nigerian terrorist Omar Farouk Abdulmuttalab to conceal explosives in his underwear which he tried to use to blow up a Detroit-bound plane on December 25, 2009.
He also played a role in the 2009 Fort Hood massacre and the failed plot by Faisal Shahzad to detonate an SUV filled with explosives on May 1, 2010.
'They put up black curtains at the house, and they made reference to their concerns they might be under surveillance.
'We could hear them - and we heard them discussing the 'martyr' (July 7 bomber) Mohammed Sidique Khan, and they discussed how much chemicals they would need.
'Naseer referred to "seven or eight in different places - boom, boom, boom".'
By September 16 2011, the three men were 'experimenting with chemicals and home-made explosive', said Mr Gough, and the police acted.
There was a fear that they might try to test a device, putting members of the public at risk.
Late on the night of September 18, officers swooped on the men's car when it drove along a suburban street as they were heading out to get takeaway food.
All three were arrested, and in the next two hours 14 warrants were carried out on addresses across Birmingham.
Among the addresses raided was the group's safe house, where further evidence of the men's attempts to make a bomb was recovered, including a sports injury cool pack which Naseer had mistakenly believed would contain ammonium nitrate - a key bomb-making ingredient.
A partially-burned note written by Naseer detailing how to make what an expert witness said during the trial would have made a viable bomb was also recovered.
Mr Gough said: 'Naseer had told Ali to burn the note but it wasn't done properly, and Naseer later admitted he had written it.'
The note detailed the chemicals, the amounts and mixtures of how to make explosives, although they never got as far as creating a bomb and carrying out their threats.
In one chilling warning, Naseer was covertly recorded saying of the UK: 'The only thing you will achieve is suicide bombers on your streets, spilling so much blood you'll have nightmares for the rest of your life.'
The men had been under MI5 surveillance, and the bugged recordings painted a picture of incompetence as they plotted their attacks.
The plot hit a snag when, Rahin Ahmed, the cell's chief fundraiser, who admitted the charges, lost more than £9,000 of the group's cash they raised in a bad investments on the money market.
His fellow jihadists ordered him to sell his Honda Civic to make up the loss.
Rather than sell his car, he turned to payday loan firm Yes Loans to make up the missing cash, but was left empty-handed when the firm ruled he did not meet their criteria.
They then suggested setting up stalls around the country selling cakes and perfume and do door-to-door collections to raise cash.
They also applied for bank loans worth £33,000 from two different branches of Barclay's on the same day but were again unsuccessful.
CHARITY ‘VICTIM’ OF TERROR FRAUD
The charity whose name was misused by three men to raise money for terrorism insisted today that it has improved the security of its street collections.
Irfan Naseer, 31, Irfan Khalid, 27, and Ashik Ali, 27, all from Birmingham, were part of a group which collected £13,500 that was supposed to be for Muslim Aid.
However only around £1,500 of the cash actually went to the charity, while the rest was intended for the group to fund terrorist atrocities.
Today Muslim Aid said: 'We welcome the conviction and sentencing of the individuals who were not Muslim Aid volunteers but used our name and property to collect funds illegally for their intended criminal activity.
'We would like to reassure the public that we have taken steps to improve the security of our street collections and branded property. We encourage our donors to check the credentials of collectors when they are approached for donations.'
The charity uses funds to support anti-poverty projects around the world, including supporting elderly people and the homeless in the UK.
On another occasion they decided to make a bomb out of a cold pack used for sports injuries, believing it contained ammonium nitrate.
They rowed over who should buy the pack - with Naseer, nicknamed Chubbs, refusing as he was too fat to be a believable athlete.
Ali went in his place but in the end there was no ammonium nitrate in the pack they brought.
When they did get round to making a bomb, Ali managed to spill chemicals on his hands, saying 'I've done my fingers man, is it dangerous if you get it on your fingers? It's like acid, innit?'
Naseer, drawing from his experience at terror camp, replies: 'Yeah, it's painful man. You won't die, it'll make you ill a bit'.
Realising the trail of evidence, the men attempt to destroy their paperwork.
But, said Mr Altman, they 'did not make a very good job of it' as police found it largely intact in a rubbish bin in Ali's kitchen.
Eleven men and one woman have been charged over the alleged plot. Some have since pleaded guilty while others await trial.
The six that have admitted terror offences, who are also from Birmingham, are Rahin Ahmed 26, from Moseley; Mujahid Hussain, 21, from Yardley; Naweed Ali, 25, Ishaaq Hussain, 21, Khobaib Hussain, 22, and Shahid Khan, 21, all from Sparkhill.
Salma Kabal, 23, of Alum Rock, Birmingham, will go on trial later this year, accused of not alerting the authorities to the plot.
Also facing trial are Rizwan, of Ward End, Birmingham, and Bahader Ali, of Sparkbrook, Birmingham, who deny involvement with the terror cell.
CONSPIRACY : WHY DID NO ONE IN PLOTTERS’ COMMUNITY TIP OFF POLICE?
Nobody in the bomb plotters' own community tipped the police off with their concerns, despite finding out they were sending young men to terror training camps in Pakistan.
At no point during the 18-month investigation by the West Midlands counter-terrorism unit did anyone in Birmingham's Muslim community inform on the behaviour of Irfan Naseer, Irfan Khalid (together right) and Ashik Ali, raising questions over the health of relations between officers and community leaders.
This was despite the fact the families of four other young men recruited from Sparkhill all intervened to bring them back home the moment they found out the real reasons for them travelling to Pakistan.
Detective Inspector Adam Gough, senior investigating officer, said the extended families of the four men had 'become aware' of why they went to Pakistan but, in any case, 'did not tell us'.
Ishaaq Hussain, Shahid Khan, Khobaib Hussain and Naweed Ali were told to tell loved ones they were studying at madrassas if asked.
Police and security services were aware the four were travelling but decided against stopping them to preserve the surveillance operation (below) and because evidence-gathering was in the early stages.
According to detectives, none of the men received any terror training as they left the camps after a day.
Mr Gough said: 'We know pressure was applied to them to come back.
'Shahid Khan virtually ran home. Three of the four came back almost immediately, while the fourth stayed with his family in Pakistan.
'We know that they did reach a training camp.
'But it is a success story in that the families did bring those people back and it shows the vast majority of the community abhor terrorism in the same way we do.'
Community engagement - under what the police call the Prevent programme - is supposed to form a cornerstone of the UK counter-terrorism policing strategy.
Prevent aims to respond 'to the ideological challenge of terrorism' by 'developing partnerships' with communities, thereby preventing people being 'drawn into terrorism'.
Assistant Chief Constable Marcus Beale, who is responsible for counter-terrorism at West Midlands Police, said: 'The families were trying to do their best to get them back and stop them getting into trouble, rather than get in touch with us.
'I agree it would have been really good if more could have been shared with us, and we could have dealt with it in a different way.
'In terms of community engagement, would I like them to come forward more? Yes, I would.
'Do I think they (the Muslim community) were being disruptive - no, I do not.'
Mr Beale also said he believed the two local charitable organisations on whose behalf the three men had masqueraded to raise money "were duped, rather than being complicit'.
He added: 'We want to help make sure they (the charities) are not quite so easily duped in the future.'
Some of that money scammed from charities was actually gambled away by another member of the group, Rahin Ahmed, who was given the task of playing the financial markets to try to increase the group's cash reserves.
He previously admitted engaging in conduct in preparation of acts of terror, encouraging acts of terror, collecting money for terrorism and assisting other to travel for training in terrorism.
On one occasion, Ahmed - an unemployed law graduate who was a community worker with one of the charities - lost £3,000 when he left his computer screen for five minutes to boil a kettle.
He tried to recover some of his losses, but in total lost £9,000 of the £14,500 invested.
There was talk in the group of acquiring a shop, as a front for a bomb factory at the back of the premises, but Ahmed lost too much money and the idea had to be dropped.
Mr Beale said the police do not know how much money the group collected.
Read more: www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2282251/Three-British-Muslims-guilty-plotting-7-7-terrorist-attack-team-8-suicide-bombers.html#ixzz2LZZFMNGk
