Militant Islam Monitor > Articles > Trial of UK terrorist "Osama bin London" who ran training camps across UK
Trial of UK terrorist "Osama bin London" who ran training camps across UK
October 11, 2007
'Osama bin London' ran training camps across Britain, terror trial told
Metropolitan Police/PA Wire
Atilla Ahmet
Lucy Bannerman From The Times (London) October 11, 2007 http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article2630899.eceTwo Islamic preachers recruited, groomed and corrupted young Muslims, taking them to camps across Britain where they trained with members of the failed July 21, 2005, bomb plot, a court was told yesterday.
Attila Ahmet, the ringleader of the alleged group, admitted encouraging others to commit murder, Woolwich Crown Court was told. Mohammed Hamid, his alleged co-conspirator, who allegedly told police his name was "Osama bin London", is accused of overseeing a two-year radicalisation programme to prepare a London-based network of Muslim youths for jihad.
Mr Hamid, 50, who was said to have referred to the 52 deaths in the July 7 terrorist attacks as "not even breakfast for me", appeared with four others. He also allegedly spoke of "six or seven atrocities" before the London 2012 Olympics and was said to praise "the magnificent" September 11 hijackers.
Among those who attended the weekend training camps and Friday- night meetings at the East London home of Mr Hamid were the four men convicted of the failed July 21 plot, which aimed to kill passengers on Tube and bus networks in London.
The court was told that the defendants joined two of the plotters, Ramzi Mohammed and Hussein Osman, on a paintballing trip to Tonbridge, Kent, weeks before the terror cell tried to blow up passengers at Warren Street, Oval, Shepherds Bush and Shoreditch.
David Farrell, QC, for the prosecution, said: "Hamid and Ahmet used the meetings as a grooming mechanism for disaffected Muslim men, slowly and sometimes subtly, preparing them and radicalising them for jihad and encouraging them to murder non-believers." The prosecution claimed that a recording, secretly made by the police, shows Mr Hamid clearly encouraging murder. In one conversation the preacher is allegedly heard telling an unnamed associate: "We know you have the bottle. You know what happened on the Tube? Four people got shaheed [martyrdom]. How many people did it take out?"
The man replies: "Fifty-two."
Mr Hamid allegedly says: "Fifty-two. That's not even breakfast for me."
Mr Hamid, of Clapton, London, Mousa Brown, 41, of Walthamstow, East London, Kibley da Costa, 24, of West Norwood, southeast London, Mohammed al-Figari, 42, of Tottenham, North London, and Kader Ahmed, 20, of Plaistow, East London, deny a number of terrorism charges.
Ahmet, 43, the alleged right-hand man of Mr Hamid and leader of their "inner circle", pleaded guilty to three counts of soliciting murder.
They are the first people to be brought to trial under the Terrorism Act 2006, which makes it a criminal offence to glorify terrorism or to receive terrorist training.
The prosecution alleges that Mr Hamid, with Ahmet as his accomplice, groomed and corrupted young men whom he met at his stall in Marble Arch, West London.
Mr Farrell told the jury that the preacher, who used the alias Al Quran, would invite some of those he met to his home, later taking them to training camps. Surveillance footage taken by the police allegedly shows them practising firing imaginary weapons with sticks, learning to "leopard- crawl" and pole-vaulting over streams. Their behaviour at the Lake District camp, the court heard, led the farmer who owned the land to nickname his regular visitors as "my Taleban".
Mr Farrell said: "A number of young men who attended camps organised by Hamid were involved in attempts to kill and seriously injure passengers on the London transport network on July 21, 2005."
Mobile phone records allegedly show that Mr Hamid was in regular contact with the July 21 plotters, texting them the day before their rucksack bombs failed to detonate. The jury was told that there was no evidence connecting the men to the terrorist attacks on July 7, 2005.
The trial continues.
The charges
Mohammed Hamid, 50, of Clapton, East London, is accused of providing weapons and terrorist training between April and March 2006. He is charged with soliciting murder and possessing terrorist documents.
Mousa Brown, 41, of Walthamstow, East London, is also accused of providing weapons training between April 2004 and March 2006.
Kibley da Costa, 24, of West Norwood, southeast London, is accused of providing terrorist training and attending terrorist training camps
Mohammed Al-Figari, 42, of Tottenham, North London, is accused of attending terrorist training camps.
Kader Ahmed, 20, of Plaistow, East London, is accused of attending terrorist training camps.
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| UK camps 'preparation for terror' | |||||
Footage of alleged exercises have been shown to the Woolwich Crown Court jury. Mohammed Hamid, 50, of east London, who is alleged to have organised the camps, and four other men deny a series of terrorism charges. The court heard the men behind the plot to bomb London's transport network on 21 July 2005 were among his "pupils". 'Drill exercises' Mr Hamid, of Clapton, is charged alongside Mousa Brown, 41, of Walthamstow, east London; Kibley da Costa, 24, of West Norwood, south-east London; Mohammed Al-Figari, 42, of Tottenham, north London, and Kader Ahmed, 20, of Plaistow, east London. Another man, Atilla Ahmet, has pleaded guilty to three counts of soliciting murder in connection with the case.
Mr Hamid is said to have been the group's senior figure, who, during meetings at his home, encouraged others to commit murder. David Farrell QC, prosecuting, said all five defendants undertook drill exercises at one camp in the New Forest while pretending to hold guns. A mobile phone clip from an earlier trip to the New Forest - showing men and a young boy crawling across ground and making forward rolls - was shown to the jury. Mr Farrell asked jurors: "What you see in these sections is not mere religious instruction, is it?
"The prosecution say these video clips show basic military training. Training which prepared them for further military training. "It forms the first part of their terrorist training." Further footage showed a close-up of a melon being quickly knifed in half as men shouted encouragement. Mr Farrell said: "What is that meant to symbolise?" He added that a bug planted by MI5 recorded Mr Hamid at his home telling others: "We are supposed to take on two kuffars (non-believers). "One Muslim is supposed to take on two kuffars. Lucky if we could take on one kuffar." Police also hid a camera in the woods, jurors were told, and an undercover police officer managed to infiltrate the group. According to this officer, as they drove past Paddington Green police station in west London, Mr Hamid shouted: "Here is your terrorist, I'm here, come and get me." The four men convicted of the failed 21 July 2005 bomb attacks attended Mr Hamid's camps and meetings, the court has been told. In 2004 he was arrested at a stall selling literature alongside the plot's ringleader, Muktar Said Ibrahim, the prosecution has claimed. Earlier, the court heard that Mr Hamid told recruits that he wanted to see "six or seven" atrocities before the 2012 Olympics and hailed the 11 September hijackers as the "magnificent 15" Mr Farrell said that internet footage showing beheadings were stored on DVDs seized from the homes of some defendants and would be shown to the court later. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- | |||||
Mohammed Hamid incited followers to murder, jurors were told
Mohammed Hamid is charged under the Terrorism Act 2006 with providing weapons and terrorist training. He faces additional charges of soliciting murder, and one charge of possessing terrorist documents Mousa Brown is accused of providing and receiving weapons training Mohammed Al-Figari is charged under the Terrorism Act 2006 with attending terrorist training camps Kibley da Costa is charged under the Terrorism Act 2006 with providing terrorist training and with attending terrorist training camps Kader Ahmed is charged under the Terrorism Act 2006 with attending terrorist training campsMan admits encouraging terror attacks Staff and agencies
Wednesday October 10, 2007 1.45pm update
Guardian Unlimited (UK) http://www.guardian.co.uk/terrorism/story/0,,2187948,00.html
A man today admitted soliciting murder in connection with an alleged plot to organise terrorist training camps across the UK.
Atilla Ahmet, 42, from south-east London, pleaded guilty at the Old Bailey to three counts of encouraging others to commit murder. Five men linked to Ahmet went on trial today at Woolwich crown court for a number of terrorist offences. One of the men, Mohammed Hamid, is accused of organising camps attended by the July 21 bombers, the court heard. The prosecution claim Mr Hamid was involved in the radicalisation of Muslim youths for two years from 2004. David Farrell, prosecuting, said Mr Hamid was arrested at a stall in Oxford Street, central London, in October 2004. Also arrested was Muktar Said Ibrahim, the ringleader of the failed July 21 plot, Mr Farrell said. "Hamid told the police that his name was 'Osama bin London', and on the way to the police station he said to a police officer, 'I've got a bomb and I'm going to blow you all up'," the lawyer said.
Mr Hamid, 50, of Clapton, East London; Mousa Brown, 41, of Walthamstow, east London; Kibley da Costa, 24, of West Norwood, south-east London; Mohammed Al-Figari, 42, of Tottenham, north London; and Kader Ahmed, 20, of Plaistow, east London, deny a number of terrorism charges. The court heard that the alleged terrorist training was carried out under the guise of camping and paint-balling trips in the UK. Mr Farrell said the trips were designed to "foster within the participants that they were training for 'Jihad' against the 'Kuffir', or non-believers". He added: "To put it another way, their statements and actions resulted in the encouragement, direct and indirect, of the commission of acts of terrorism. "Indeed, as you will hear, a number of young men who attended camps organised by Hamid were in fact involved in attempts to kill and seriously injure passengers on the London transport network on July 2 2005."
The jury was told that Ahmet attend meetings at Mr Hamid's home, where "aggressive unlawful violence" was preached in the name of Islam. Mr Farrell said: "At meetings held at Hamid's home address and elsewhere, the methods of Hamid and Ahmet involved the encouragement of the use of unlawful violence in the name of Islam." The court heard that some of those involved in the failed July 21 bombings attended the camps and paint-balling trips, as well as meetings at Hamid's home. The jury was shown evidence of phone contact between Mr Hamid and the four convicted bombers - Ibrahim, Hussein Osman, Ramzi Mohammed and Yassin Omar. Mr Farrell said: "The prosecution do not suggest that Mr Hamid's role in seeking to train and influence those who took part in 21/7 was the only training or influence they received. "The prosecution's case is that Hamid, assisted by Ahmet, was a recruiter, groomer and corrupter of young Muslims. "His purpose was to convert such men to his own fanatical and extreme beliefs and, having given them such a foundation, thereby enabling them to move on to join others in the pursuit of 'Jihad' by acts of terrorism."
The court heard that Mr Hamid's east London home was bugged by police from September 2005 onwards. Officers were able to listen to meetings held each Friday by Hamid, Ahmet and others when discussions took place. In April 2006, an undercover police officer approached Mr Hamid at his Oxford Street stall and was invited to the Islamic meetings. He was subsequently invited to camping weekends in the New Forest and to an Islamic school in East Sussex.
Speaking about the recordings, Mr Farrell said: "What you'll hear is not mere religious discussion and teaching, but the preaching of aggressive, unlawful violence - terrorism in the name of Islam. "Indeed Hamid's partner in terrorist conversions, Atilla Ahmet, has admitted that that was his intention when he addressed meetings at Hamid's house." Mr Farrell said when the defendants were arrested in September 2006 their homes were searched and a "great deal" of extremist material was seized, including CDs and DVDs containing recordings of murders, beheadings and suicide bombings.
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Terror leader wanted to bomb Parliament
By Duncan Gardham
12/10/2007 The Daily Telegraph (London)
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/10/12/nterror112.xml
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A man accused of recruiting and grooming the July 21 bombers encouraged his followers to die as martyrs and told them to attack the Houses of Parliament, a court heard.
An undercover police officer infiltrated the group run by Mohammed Hamid and MI5 had put a listening device in his home. Hamid, who once called himself "Osama bin London", told a meeting at his home: "There's enough of them here that you know, you got House of Parliament, then you've got the things around it … you can pick them off like that, you understand?" The officer, known as "Dawood", said Hamid clicked his fingers and then made a motion as though firing a gun, the court heard. At a meeting four weeks earlier - on June 16, 2006 - Hamid is said to have told his followers they were "Soldiers of Allah" who were "fighting for shariah (Islamic law)". "The whole aspect is for you to get shahada (martyred) for you to be shaheed (martyr)," he added. David Farrell, QC, prosecuting, said: "The prosecution say what was being said and the tenor of it was a clear incitement to murder." As they drove home from a camping trip, they passed Paddington Green police station in London where terrorist suspects are held, and Hamid is said to have taunted: "Here is your terrorist. I'm here come and get me." A song which Atilla Ahmet, the "emir" (leader) of the group's inner circle, sang at a "family weekend" at the Jameah Islamic school in Crowborough, Sussex, was also read to the jury on Thursday. The lyrics, sung to the tune of the Banana Boat Song, began: "Come mister Taliban, come bomb England, before the daylight come you wanna see 10 Downing Street done." The jury was shown silent footage filmed with a surveillance camera hidden in the New Forest as the group went through a number of exercises on a camping trip in June. They could be seen crawling, crouching and doing forward rolls in a series of exercises. The jury heard that Hamid also filmed the activities himself on his mobile phone when the group used sticks as rifles. On one such clip, later found on one of the defendant's computers, a man could be seen jumping a stream and yelling "Allah Akbar" (God is great). Hamid was said to have told them he was well-known in Afghanistan for what he was doing and had been running camps for 13 years. "He said he was doing this so that they were prepared to fight Bush and Blair when the time was right," said Mr Farrell. In June, Ahmet, who has already pleaded guilty to soliciting to murder, said he was "starting to smell victory". Hamid, 50, of Clapton, east London, is accused of soliciting to murder. Mousa Brown, 41, of Walthamstow, east London, and Kibley Da Costa, 24, of West Norwood, south London, are accused of providing training for terrorism and Mohammed al-Figari, 42, of Tottenham, north London, and Kader Ahmed, 20, of Plaistow, east London, are accused of receiving terrorist training. The men deny the charges and the trial continues. |
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