Terrorists who plotted to blow up army base with explosives on toy car jailed for 44 years
The gang were locked up after admitting the Al Qaeda inspired plot to attack the barracks using the deadly remote control vehicle
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Terrorist cell
Four British terrorists were today jailed for 44 years for plotting to blow up a Territorial Army base using an explosives-packed toy car.
The gang were locked up after admitting the Al Qaeda inspired plot to attack the barracks using the deadly remote control vehicle.
At one point the gang aimed to mount a suicide bombing campaign against British and United States troops serving in Afghanistan.
Ringleader Zahid Iqbal, 31, helped organise for Jihadists to travel to Pakistan for extremism training through an al-Qaeda contact he had there.
Fellow plotter Mohammed Sharfaraz Ahmed, 25, made several trips to Snowdonia and Brecon Beacons to prepare themselves for conditions in the mountains of Pakistan and Afghanistan.
But security services bugged their cars, and overheard married father-of-two Iqbal suggesting driving a toy car carrying explosives under the gates of the TA base in Luton.
Iqbal originally planned to send extremist followers abroad, but turned his attention to UK targets after losing contact with his terrorist handler in Pakistan.
The pair recruited and radicalised Ahmed’s friend Umar Arshad, 24, and another Luton-based Muslim, Syed Hussain, 22.
PA
Ahmed led military-style training trips to the countryside, where he and fellow extremists were spotted jogging in formation while using logs as mock weapons.
He suggested bungee jumping, sky diving, horse riding, and paragliding as “good Jihad training” in a bid to overcome his fear of heights, Woolwich Crown Court heard.
The homes of all four terrorists were raided just days before the tenth anniversary of 9/11, and they admitted a joint charge of preparing for terrorism.
Mr Justice Wilkie QC jailed both Iqbal and Ahmed for 16 years and three months each.
Arshad was sentenced to six years and nine months, and Hussain was jailed for five years and three months.
He said Iqbal and Ahmed should be serve at least 11 years and three months of their prison sentence before being considered for release because they continue to pose a significant danger to the public.
“There is a persistent commitment to terrorist activities in a number of different ways over a significant period of time”, he said of Iqbal and Ahmed.
“There was a willingness to take particular steps to obtain terrorist training abroad, which marks them as particularly dangerous.”
Iqbal had an al Qaeda contact in Pakistan dubbed “Modern Sleeve” by security services, said Max Hill, prosecuting.
“The evidence shows Iqbal to have been acting as a facilitator for individuals who wanted to travel for extremist purposes and he had direct contact with a Pakistani based operative, who it is believed facilitated the process at that end.
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