Posted on 07/05/2007 6:29:27 PM PDT by blam
Mystery asylum seeker kept bomb manuals
By John Steele, Crime Correspondent
Last Updated: 2:13am BST 06/07/2007
A failed asylum seeker who kept a collection of manuals on how to carry out car bombings, with guidance on "suitable targets" including nightclubs and airports, is facing a lengthy jail sentence.
Omar Altimimi, 37, who had links to al-Qa'eda, was a "clean skin" who was unknown as a terror suspect when he arrived in England and applied for jobs with the police and as a teacher.
However, he used multiple identities to cover his tracks and was so successful that police are still unsure of his true identity. He also hoarded computer files detailing how to carry out terror attacks.
The father-of-three, from Bolton, Lancs, was found guilty on Wednesday of four counts of possessing material for the purpose of terrorism following a four-week trial at Manchester Crown Court.
Yesterday, he was convicted of two more charges of possession of material for a purpose connected with terrorism and two charges of money laundering.
Altimimi claimed to have no knowledge of the material on his computer. But the court heard he was linked to terrorists in the Netherlands and to Junade Feroze, 31, from Blackburn, who was jailed last month for 22 years for his part in bomb plots led by Dhiren Barot, a prominent al-Qa'eda terrorists in the UK.
Altimimi came to Britain from the Netherlands in 2002 claiming asylum for himself, his wife and their three children. He claimed benefits, including more than £100,000 from the National Asylum Support Service, while applying for jobs with Greater Manchester Police and a local college. He was arrested in March last year on suspicion of money laundering after £27,000 was stolen from the Yemen Tourist Board.
Detectives searched two homes he kept in Bolton and seized his computer. Files on the computer contained instructions for making bombs, detonators and explosives as well as information on bombing strategies. He also had video clips of executions of hostages in Iraq.
He kept video clips showing Osama bin Laden praising the London bombings of 2005, and information on carrying out suicide bombings on buses, as well as tips on other targets such as stadiums and cinemas.
Police also found a shopping list of common substances used to make explosives and a reference to the use of radioactive radium in bombs. Much of the material was downloaded from a secret, password-protected al-Qa'eda internet site.
The Recorder of Manchester, Judge David Maddison, is due to sentence Altimimi today. Det Chief Supt Tony Porter, head of the Greater Manchester Police counter terrorism unit, said: "We will never know who Altimimi really is. He developed a range of identities, which would allow him to expand his terrorist activities. We will never know exactly what Altimimi was preparing to do but it was clear he had support and links with terrorists across the world."
Great, I’m glad he faces a lengthy jail sentence.
Hmmm...radioactive radium...something doctors would have access to. I certainly hope we are watching the Muslim doctors we’ve been importing to the US.
Gee. If hillary is elected next year, I wonder if the National Asylum Service would give me a £100,000 for moving to the UK?
Good grief. This is USD 201,178.91. I guess he collected for every wife and every child.
The Brits are paying the Muslims to come and kill them.
But...but...it’s just a small number...just a few... /s
Yes, but a 4 week trial and 22 years prison at govt. expense, we've got to dispatch these pieces of trash more economically.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.