31 January 2007 Birmingham raid

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The 31 January 2007 Birmingham raid saw the arrest of nine Muslim men, mostly of Pakistani origin, in Birmingham, UK. They were suspected of planning to kidnap a Muslim British soldier, torture him, force him to "apologize" for fighting in Iraq, and behead him. A videotape of the murder was to be released on the Internet for propaganda purposes.[1][2]

Contents

[edit] The plot

The plot involved kidnapping a British Muslim soldier and taking him either to a run-down house in Leatherhead Close, Aston, Birmingham[3] believed to be owned by the wife of suspect Zahoor Iqbal[4], or a safehouse in Tipton, nine miles from Birmingham. There, he would be blindfolded, handcuffed, made to demand the withdrawal of troops from Iraq, and then he would be killed. A video of this would be released on the Internet.[5] On a password-protected Internet forum affiliated with Al-Qaeda, the plotters were told: "It is preferable if you photograph or video the operation so that it can have a bigger set of viewers and can be used by the media."[1]

The group spent months to compile a hit list of 25 potential targets.[2][6]

[edit] The raid

For six months, British police forces and intelligence agencies, under the codename Operation Gamble, have been investigating the plot.[1] They had hoped to investigate for another two months before making arrests, but when there were indications that the plotters were about to go into action, police were forced to make arrests.[2] One of the suspects purchased a video camera during the weekend before the raid, and it was feared that this was done in preparation for the kidnapping.[5]

On January 31, 2007, just before 4 in the morning, more than 700 police officers raided eight homes and four businesses, including a corner store, two Islamic bookstores and an Internet cafe. Eight men were arrested then[2], with a ninth arrested later in the afternoon while driving into Birmingham.[6]

[edit] The suspects

[edit] Released without charges

  • Abu Bakr (Bakir), a 29-year-old bookseller.[7] He works at the Maktabah al-Ansar[8] book store, of which he is a part-owner.[9]
  • Azzar Iqbal, 38, who owns a pizzaria called Pizza Pronto, and once ran a snooker hall. He is the father of three girls who attend an Islamic school.[10]
  • An unnamed third man.[11]

[edit] Charged with failing to disclose information

  • Basiru Gassama, 29[12], born in Mansaringsu, Brikama, Gambia, lives in Hodge Hill, Birmingham, and works at Khan General Store. He attended madrasahs in Gambia and Senegal, and continued his education in Saudi Arabia. He then moved to the UK and acquired citizenship. He is married to the daughter of a former Gambian Foreign Affairs minister whose name was withheld from the press[13]. His brother was arrested in March 2006 in Banjul, Gambia as a suspect in a plot to overthrow Gambian president Yahya Jammeh.[3][14][15] He has also been charged with failing to disclose information[16].

[edit] Charged with supplying terrorists

  • Amjad Mahmood, 29, a father of two[7], who works at Khan General Store, which was set up by his parents and which he now owns.[10] He is additionally charged with failing to disclose information of a terrorist plot[17].
  • Pervaiz (Parviz) Khan, 30, an unemployed father of four[7] and longtime friend of Mahmood.[10] His wife is said to be in Pakistan.[18] Khan also faces charges of conspiracy to kidnap and conspiracy to murder.
  • Zahoor Iqbal, a 29-year-old teacher who lives in Kingstanding, north Birmingham. He and his wife Rohama Sattar, 35, an accountant, have two young children. His wife is believed to own the house where the soldier was to have been taken. Iqbal teaches Information Technology part-time at Saltley School, a specialist science college.[4][17] His white Ford was seized.[7][10] Sources say he went to the Markazi Jamiat Ahl-e-Hadith centre in Small Heath, which was investigated in the documentary Undercover Mosque.[19]
  • Hamid Elasmar, 43[12]
  • Mohammed Irfan, 30[12]

One of the suspects ran military-style survival courses for Muslims in the Peak District in Derbyshire.[20]

[edit] Criticism of the raid

Abu Bakr, a worker at one of the bookshops raided, who was initally arrested and then released without charge, stated "It's a police state for Muslims. It's not a police state for everybody else, because these terror laws are designed specifically for Muslims and that's quite an open fact."[21] Bakr's statement was quickly challenged and dismissed by Prime Minister Tony Blair, Jack Straw and Gordon Brown[22]

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c "How al-Qaeda 'tried to bring Baghdad to Birmingham'", The Times, February 1, 2007. Retrieved on February 8, 2007.
  2. ^ a b c d "Al Qaeda was behind 'plot' to behead soldier", The Daily Mail, February 1, 2007. Retrieved on February 8, 2007.
  3. ^ a b Parker, Andrew. "Murder videos at raid house", The Sun, February 02, 2007. Retrieved on February 12, 2007.
  4. ^ a b "The suspect known as the Terminator", The Daily Mail, February 3, 2007. Retrieved on February 12, 2007.
  5. ^ a b Dunn, Tom Newton. "We'll behead him in Tipton...", The Sun, February 1, 2007. Retrieved on February 8, 2007.
  6. ^ a b "Muslim soldiers 'faced kidnap and beheading'", The Times, February 1, 2007. Retrieved on February 8, 2007.
  7. ^ a b c d "Preacher calls for death to all Muslim soldiers", The Times, February 04, 2007. Retrieved on February 8, 2007.
  8. ^ "MI5 tried to recruit founder of bookshop", The Guardian, February 1, 2007. Retrieved on February 8, 2007.
  9. ^ "Terror suspects arrive at court", The Sun, February 1, 2007. Retrieved on February 8, 2007.
  10. ^ a b c d "The men they held at dawn", The Daily Mail, February 1, 2007. Retrieved on February 8, 2007.
  11. ^ http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/09/AR2007020900792.html
  12. ^ a b c Gardham, Duncan. "Man charged with plot to kill soldier", The Telegraph, February 10, 2007. Retrieved on February 9, 2007.
  13. ^ http://www.thepoint.gm/headlines1674.htm
  14. ^ "Suspect no6 on terror rap", The Sunday People, February 11, 2007. Retrieved on February 12, 2007.
  15. ^ Jarju, PK. "Brikama man in UK terror plot", All Gambian, February 11, 2007. Retrieved on February 13, 2007.
  16. ^ "6th man in court over plot", The Sunday Mirror, February 11, 2007. Retrieved on February 11, 2007.
  17. ^ a b Chaytor, Rod. "12 Terror Charges..", The Daily Mirror, February 10, 2007. Retrieved on February 11, 2007.
  18. ^ "Dad is charged over soldier kidnap plot", The Daily Record, February 10, 2007. Retrieved on February 12, 2007.
  19. ^ "Suspect is linked to 'hate' mosque", The People, February 4, 2007. Retrieved on February 8, 2007.
  20. ^ Wells, Tom. "Suspect ran survival course", The Sun, February 5, 2007. Retrieved on February 8, 2007.
  21. ^ "Ex-terror plot suspect speaks out", BBC News, 2007-02-08. Retrieved on February 11, 2007.
  22. ^ "No 10 rejects police state claim", BBC News, 2007-02-08. Retrieved on February 11, 2007.

[edit] See also

War on Terrorism
v • d • e
Main events (2001–2003) Main events (2004–current) Specific articles Participants in operations Targets of operations

2001:

2002:

2003:

2004:

2005:

2006:

2007:
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