Ottawa man 'vital' to terror plot, court told

The Ottawa Citizen ^ | Wednesday, March 22, 2006 | Ian Macleod

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Khawaja, co-conspirators set to strike when arrested, Crown says at British trial

LONDON

Momin Khawaja of Ottawa played a "vital role" in an al-Qaeda plot to bomb the British capital and other strategic sites in Britain, a prosecutor charged yesterday at the trial of seven Britons accused of planning a terror campaign against Britain for its support of the U.S. war on Islamic extremists.

Before a packed opening-day court at the Old Bailey courthouse, Crown attorney David Waters told a seven-man, five-woman jury the alleged plot was nearing completion when British police, security services and the RCMP launched raids in late March 2004, arresting Mr. Khawaja in Ottawa and the other men at locations near London.

"The allegation is that they played their respective roles in a plan to acquire the ingredients necessary to manufacture a bomb or bombs which would be deployed at the very least to destroy strategic plant within the United Kingdom, or more realistically, to kill and injure citizens of the United Kingdom," he said in his opening address.

"They were intercepted before the plot could reach fruition, however ... the interception came only when most of the necessary components were in place and all that remained before their plans achieved their ultimate goal was for the target or targets to be finally agreed."

Those potential targets, he said, included pubs, nightclubs and trains. He noted one defendant, Waheed Mahmood, worked for National Grid Transco, which operates the high voltage electrical system in England and Wales as well as Britain's natural gas system. Details about other potential sites are to be revealed in court today.

Mr. Khawaja played "a vital role in this plot .... (and) constitutes the Canadian end of conspiracy," he said. "A great deal of preparation was undertaken in Pakistan, and also in Canada through the work of Momin Khawaja."

For two hours, all eyes and ears, including those of a 40-strong international news corps, were riveted on Mr. Waters as he meticulously outlined the prosecution's case. It alleges the seven men and Mr. Khawaja, all but one of whom are of Pakistani descent, spent months preparing for the attacks as part of a jihad against Britain "because of its support for the United States."

That included attending an al-Qaeda training camp in Pakistan in 2003.

It also included securing 600 kilograms of ammonium nitrate fertilizer (a bomb-making ingredient popular with terrorists), practising their new-found skills with small bombs, devising ways to smuggle bomb detonators into Britain and visiting a mystery man in Karachi known only as "Riaz" and who gave them money.

Much of the group's communications was done using coded e-mail messages from various London-area Internet cafes, Mr. Waters said. The code-word for detonators was "cigarettes." Most of the men also used aliases, he said, including Mr. Khawaja, known as Yas or Yassir.

By late afternoon, at least one of London's evening newspapers had quickly made over its front page with a screaming "LONDON TERROR BOMB PLOT" headline. The British press has been largely prevented from reporting all but basic details of the case because of court bans, most of which were lifted at the start of the trial yesterday.

The seven accused have pleaded not guilty. All but one have been held in custody since their arrests. They sat in the prisoners' box yesterday wearing crisply pressed dress shirts, colourful silk ties and jackets. Thirteen stone-faced court security guards sat directly behind them.

Defendant Salahuddin Amin, 30, shook his head as Mr. Waters delivered his stinging indictment. Jurors glanced at the men as Mr. Waters laid out his case. More than a dozen family and friends silently watched the drama from the second-floor public gallery of courtroom No. 8.

Mr. Khawaja, a 26-year-old Orleans computer expert, is named as an unindicted co-conspirator at the trial for his alleged role in preparing "to cause explosions likely to endanger life." An earlier court hearing here was told he was the group's expert for detonating the bombs using remote-control devices.

But he is not charged by British authorities with any crime.

Instead, he is to stand trial in Ottawa next January as the first person charged under Canada's tough 2001 Anti-terrorism Act with several terrorism-related charges. Since his arrest by RCMP at the Department of Foreign Affairs, where he worked as an employee of a contract computer company, he has been refused bail and held in an Ottawa jail cell.

He denies all charges against him.

"Momin Khawaja is not charged in England," his Ottawa lawyer, Lawrence Greenspon, said yesterday. "Although his name may be mentioned during the course of the trial, British authorities do not see fit to charge him, although this was open to them."

Still, the London trial is offering a preview of the federal government's case against Mr. Khawaja, which is expected to be a crucial test of Canada's ability and international reputation to detect, apprehend and imprison terrorists in the post-Sept. 11, 2001, world.

Specific details about Mr. Khawaja's alleged role are to be heard in court today. Most of that information and the rest of the prosecution's case comes from two key sources: a joint British police-MI5 security service surveillance project of the group, code-named Operation Crevice; and statements from the Crown's star witness, Mohammed Babar, a Pakistani-American who has pleaded guilty in the U.S. to various terrorism-related offences.

Mr. Babar has yet to be sentenced by a U.S. court and, as Mr. Waters pointed out yesterday, hopes to receive a lighter sentence in exchange for co-operating with British authorities and testifying at this trial. He has immunity from prosecution in Britain for the incriminating statements he is expected to deliver when he takes the witness stand later this week.

That testimony, according to Mr. Waters, will reveal Mr. Babar's involvement in providing material support for the alleged plot, including acquiring the ammonium nitrate and aluminum powder to be used to make the bombs. He also is expected to recount meetings and discussions with the accused men.

In one of those purported conversations, with Waheed Mahmood in Pakistan, Mr. Waters said, "Waheed said he couldn't understand why people were coming all the way to Pakistan or Afghanistan to fight when they should be fighting jihad in the U.K. and conducting operations there."

In addition to Mr. Mahmood, 33, and Mr. Amin, the five other men on trial are: Omar Khyam, 24; his younger brother, Shujah, 18; Anthony Garcia, 27; Nabeel Hussain, 20; and Jawad Akbar, 22. All lived in bedroom communities surrounding London. They are charged with conspiring to cause an explosion or explosions which would be likely to endanger life or to cause serious injury to property.

Mr. Waters' opening address to the jury continues today.

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Islamofascists are everywhere!!