5 Minute Guide: The Fertiliser Plot
Updated on 30 April 2007
Seven arrested, five found guilty and connections to July 7 in a trial that lasted 12 months. Here's what happened.
What happened?
In March 2004, the Metropolitan and local police launched a raid, codenamed Operation Crevice, and arrested six British men suspected of planning terror attacks in the UK. A seventh man was arrested when he returned from Pakistan in February 2005.
All seven were charged with planning a bombing campaign in Britain. The authorities were led to them by an MI5 investigation into fundraising in Luton.
Three of the men were charged with possessing 600kg of ammonium nitrate fertiliser and two were charged with possessing aluminium powder. Both substances can be used to make bombs. All the men denied the charges.
The prosecution said that the men were apprehended before they had finalised a target. It was alleged that they were considering launching attacks on pubs, nightclubs, trains or shops.
The Ministry of Sound nightclub in London and Bluewater Shopping Centre in Kent as well as the gas and electricity network were mentioned as possible targets.
Most of the men are of Pakistani descent, and many of them are thought to have undergone weapons training in explosives and weapons in Pakistan in 2003.
The suspects came under surveillance seven weeks before their arrest. Unknown to them - at the time of arrest, the supposed bomb-making fertiliser, later confiscated during the raid, had been replaced with a harmless substance by undercover police.
Most of the men are of Pakistani descent, and many of them are thought to have undergone weapons training in explosives and weapons in Pakistan in 2003.
They were helped to do so by an eighth man, Mohammed Babar. Babar, a US citizen, pleaded guilty in New York in 2005 to obtaining substances for use in UK bomb attacks.
Babar appeared in court to testify against the alleged plotters. He was the star witness for the prosecution and was driven to court in a police convoy with a helicopter overhead.
In return for immunity from prosecution in relation to the charges the British suspects faced, he claimed to have stolen three computers from a software company he worked for in Peshawar, Pakistan and given them to Mahmood because they were needed by al-Qaida. The defence said he was a "liar" and a "fantasist".
Other details which emerged during the trial included:
- apparent links with the al-Qaida number three Abdul Hadi
- the jury heard how one defendant had been asked by a third party to buy a radio-isotope bomb from the Russian mafia in Belgium
- a defendant was accused of suggesting a plot to poison football crowds by selling spiked drinks at matches.
What did the jury decide?
On 30 April 2007 five of the seven men on trial were found guilty of plotting attacks. Ring-leader Omar Khyam was found guilty of conspiracy to cause explosions made form chemical fertiliser.
Waheed Mahmood, 35; Jawad Akbar, 23, both from Crawley, West Sussex; Anthony Garcia, 25, of Barkingside, east London; and Salahuddin Amin, 32, of Luton, Bedfordshire, were found guilty along with Khyam.
Shujah Mahmood, 20; and Nabeel Hussain, 22, were found not guilty.
Prosecutor David Waters QC said not everyone involved in the plot was before the court. The terror cell was said to have schemed with Canadian Mohammed Momin Khawaja and American Mohammed Junaid Babar.
The jury of seven men and five women were out for a record number of days and were in the seventh week of deliberations.
The 7/7 link
The trial revealed some of the plotters met two of the 7 July London suicide bombers.
Mohammed Sidique Khan was spotted on four occasions in 2004 with at least one of the conspirators. At one point MI5 officers followed Khan back to his home in Leeds but no further action was taken.
Because of their workload and other cases having immediate priority in 2004, MI5 did not monitor him as he was not considered a risk.
A year later Khan would lead the bombers who killed 52 people in the London attacks.
The link with 7 July was deliberately kept from the Old Bailey jury for fear of prejudicing their deliberations on the fertiliser bomb plot al-Qaeda link. The unprecedented investigation also linked back to senior al-Qaeda figures in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Two other men, Nabeel Hussain and Shujah Mahmood, were found not guilty.
Key players
Omar Khyam
- Originally from West Sussex, he was living in Slough, Berkshire at time of arrest
- brother of Shujah Mahmood
- As well as the conspiracy charge, he denied having aluminium powder for the purposes of terrorism between October 2003 and March 2004
- Also denied having 600kg of ammonium nitrate for the purposes of terrorism
- Described by prosecution as 'at the centre' of the alleged plot, a list of synagogues was found in his home
- Along with Amin, said he worked for Abdul Hadi, whom they claimed was 'number three in al-Qaida'
- From West Sussex, living with his family at time of arrest
- Denies having aluminium powder for the purposes of terrorism, as well as the conspiracy charge
- Found not guilty
- From West Sussex, also had an address in Uxbridge.
- Denied conspiracy to cause explosions Recorded discussing possible targets including: "The biggest nightclub in central London... all those slags dancing around." Reported to have told his wife: "When we kill the Kuf [non-believers] this is because we know Allah hates the Kuf."
- From West Sussex
- Denies conspiracy to cause explosions
- Worked for electricity and gas supplier National Grid Transco , alleged to have been a potential target
- Allegedly had several aliases including Abdul Waheed, Esmail, Javed or Jave
- Claimed to be a supporter of al-Qaeda, according to witness Babar
- Surveillance bug planted on him recorded possibility of: "A little explosion at Bluewater, tomorrow if you want."
- Apparently described the 2004 Madrid bombings as "A beautiful job [...] Absolutely beautiful man, so much impact."
- From Ilford, Essex, and had a girlfriend who lived in Colindale in north London
- Denied having 600kg of ammonium nitrate for purposes of terrorism, and the conspiracy charge
- Allegedly used the identities Rahman Adam, Abdul Rahman, Rizvan or John Lewis
- When he was younger had hoped to be a model - described himself as a kind of 'Ali G character'
- Became interested in Islam in his teens and said he gained respect when he started raising money for Muslims in Kashmir
- Prosecution said he was not a serious fanatic and described him as 'a bit of an idiot'
- From Surrey, and a student at Brunel University in Uxbridge at the time of his arrest
- Denied the conspiracy charge and possessing 600kg of ammonium nitrate for purposes of terrorism
- Found not guilty
- From Bedfordshire, arrested a year after the others in Heathrow returning from Pakistan
- Denied conspiracy to cause explosions
- Allegedly used the name Khalid
- Established contact with a man who said he was attempting to buy a radioisotope bomb from the Russian mafia in Belgium
- Told police about the training the defendants received in Pakistan and that it included instructions in the preparation of the poison ricin
- Claimed he had been 'brainwashed' and regretted his involvement
- Mentioned speaking to a friend of Khyam who told Khyam about remote control detonators with antennae having a range of one or two kilometres
- Found not guilty
Others
Charles Clarke
- Home Secretary at the time of the men's arrest
- Head of MI5 at the time of the arrests and previously head of counter-terrorism
- Announced in December 2006 that she would quit in April 2007
- Prompted speculation that she wanted to leave before full details of MI5's handling of the alleged plot emerge
