LONDON: Four Britons were jailed yesterday for plotting Al Qaeda inspired bombings across the country, including an attack on an army base using a remote-controlled toy car packed with explosives which they planned to drive under the gates. Prosecutors said the men, who were captured after an operation involving London’s Counter Terrorism Command and the MI5 domestic spy agency, were “dangerous and committed terrorists”.
Zahid Iqbal, Mohammed Sharfaraz Ahmed, Umar Arshad and Syed Farhan Hussain, from Luton, north of London, had all pleaded guilty last month to preparing for acts of terrorism.
Prosecutors said Iqbal was a “terrorist facilitator” who arranged for people, including Ahmed, to travel to Pakistan for extremist purposes. Meanwhile Ahmed, who with others also underwent training in the Snowdonia mountainous region of North Wales, had recruited Arshad and Hussain.
“All four men have shown a deep commitment to engage in violent jihad,” said Deborah Walsh, deputy head of Counter-Terrorism at Britain’s Crown Prosecution Service. Iqbal and Ahmed were jailed for 11 years with the possibility these terms could be extended, while Arshad was imprisoned for almost seven years and Hussain for more than five years.
Reuters
