Britain's terror trials

Since the 9/11 attacks, few European or north American countries have come under more pressure from extremist radicals and terrorists than the United Kingdom. The botched bombings in Glasgow and London last month provided chilling echoes of the devastation of the 7/7 attacks on London in 2005 and the subsequent attempted strikes on 21 July.

With its troops tangled in fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, and its leadership yoked in the eyes of the world to the aggressive agenda of the White House, the UK has fast become the "prime target" of Islamist militant networks. Many analysts believe that Britain's foreign engagements continue to make the country less safe and more vulnerable to terrorist attack.

At the same time, Britain has engaged in a meticulous - if often controversial and divisive - investigative and judicial campaign against suspected terrorists. While many suspected terrorists languish in US detention centres for years without charge and with little hope of seeing more than a military tribunal, the UK's counterterrorist judicial procedures - though still flawed - offer a degree of greater transparency and due process than their US counterparts.

This week, a London court convicted four men in relation to the 21 July attacks, but the jury was unable to deliver a verdict on two other suspects, citing inadequate evidence and casting further scrutiny on the blunders of investigators and counterterrorist agents in the preceding years.

The following is a list of significant British terrorist trials since 2003. It is worth noting that 2007 has witnessed a sharp increase in the number of related judicial proceedings.

Sheikh Abdullah el-Faisal, February 2003

"A Muslim cleric, Sheikh Abdullah el-Faisal, was today convicted of soliciting murder and inciting racial hatred, in the first prosecution of its kind in Britain....

"The ground-breaking trial was the first prosecution of a Muslim cleric in Britain. It was also the first time potential jurors were banned from sitting on the jury because of their religion. The judge agreed to a defence plea not to allow Jewish and Hindu jurors - but in the end none came forward.

"It was also the first time in more than 100 years that anyone had been charged under the 1861 Offences Against the Person Act of soliciting murder without a specific victim."

The Guardian

Brahim Benmerzouga and Baghdad Meziane, April 2003

"Two Algerians linked with al-Qaida have been found guilty of plotting to raise money for terrorist activities.

"Brahim Benmerzouga, 31, and Baghdad Meziane, 38, planned to make money, equipment and propaganda material available to Islamic extremists, Leicester Crown Court heard during the eight-week trial.

"The two Algerians were also allegedly part of an international credit card fraud aimed at raising funds for terrorist organisations such as al-Qaida."

BBC News

Dhiren Birot, August 2004

"Abu Musa al-Hindi, one of the principle terror suspects charged with plotting to attack US financial institutions, has been identified as India-born Dhiren Barot.

"British police on Tuesday charged Barot, 32, of gathering surveillance plans of financial institutions in New York and Washington, with a view to attacking them.

"Barot and seven others are due to make a first court appearance Wednesday at Belmarsh high security prison in London, according to wire service reports. AP quoted an unnamed US official as identifying Abu Musa al-Hindi as Dhiren Barot.

"According to earlier reports, Barot was born into a Hindu family in India and converted to Islam when he was 20. He took part in terrorist campaigns against Indian forces in Kashmir and is said to have been the main casing agent for al-Qaida."

The Times of India

Saajid Badat, February 2005

"A British man accused of being linked to the shoe-bomber Richard Reid today pleaded guilty to conspiring to blow up a US-bound aircraft.

"The surprise admission at the Old Bailey by Saajid Badat, 25, of Gloucester, just as his trial was about to begin, represents the first successful major prosecution for terrorism in Britain since the al-Qaida attacks in the US on September 11 2001.

"The prosecution told the Old Bailey that Badat had himself conspired to carry out a suicide bombing of an aircraft at around the same time as his fellow Briton Reid had targeted an American Airlines flight."

The Guardian

Kamel Bourgass, April 2005

"An illegal immigrant trained by al-Qa'eda to be one of its top poisoners was jailed for 17 years yesterday for leading a plot to terrorise Britain with ricin and cyanide.

"As he was sentenced at the Old Bailey, it was disclosed that Kamel Bourgass, an Islamic extremist from Algeria, had been convicted last year of murdering Special Branch officer Stephen Oake.

"The conviction of Bourgass, who is serving a life sentence for the murder of Dc Oake during an anti-terrorist operation in Manchester two years ago - reignited controversy over the shambolic asylum system."

The Daily Telegraph

Andrew Rowe, September 2005

"A British Muslim convert was jailed for 15 years yesterday after being caught with details of how to fire mortar bombs and secret codes to facilitate terror attacks. In the first major terrorist trial since the London bombings, Andrew Rowe, 34, was found guilty of two charges at the Old Bailey. He received seven and a half years for each offence.

"Afterwards the judge, Mr Justice Fulford, complained that his sentencing powers for dealing with potential terrorists were too limited. "Ten years is not adequate and the courts should have the option of a discretionary life sentence," he said. "The government should give immediate and urgent consideration to the adequacy of that term." Rowe's prosecution followed his arrest on the French side of the Channel tunnel in 2003, where he was found to be carrying socks bearing traces of high explosives."

The Guardian

Jawad Akbar, Omar Khyam, Salahuddin Amin, Anthony Garcia, and Waheed Mahmood, January 2007

"The leader of a British al Qa'eda cell has been jailed for at least 20 years for plotting a bombing campaign to rival the September 11 terror attacks.

"Omar Khyam was an associate of July 7 plot ringleader Mohammed Sidique Khan and boasted of taking orders from al Qa'eda chief Abdul Hadi, number three in the terror organisation.

"Khyam, 25, and four others were found guilty of conspiracy to cause explosions today following a record-breaking year-long trial at the Old Bailey.

"His four co-accused were also given life sentences for their part in the terror plot and warned that they may spend the rest of their lives in jail."

The Daily Telegraph

Bhirot co-conspirators, June 2007

"Seven men have been jailed for their part in one of the most complex bomb plots in the UK. The case against them reveals how they went to extraordinary lengths to throw the security services off their scent.

"If you want to send an e-mail, you do not travel hundreds of miles out of your way to do so. But in the case of Abdul Aziz Jalil and Junade Feroze it involved a drive from London to Swansea, popping into an internet cafe - and then immediately leaving to travel home.

"Such were the lengths taken by the seven men who formed a self-proclaimed "sleeper cell" of al-Qaeda sympathisers, determined to ensure the bomb plots of Dhiren Barot went ahead with devastating consequences."

BBC News

"Terrorist007", July 2007

"A man codenamed 'terrorist007' and his two accomplices have been sentenced to a total of 24 years in jail for inciting terrorism over the Internet, in the first case of its kind in Britain.

"The men pleaded guilty to inciting acts of terrorism "wholly or partly" outside Britain via websites that advocated killing non-Muslims. Prosecutors said Moroccan-born Younes Tsouli, Briton Waseem Mughal and Jordanian-born Tariq al-Daour changed had close ties to Al Qaeda. The three men in their 20s changed their original not guilty pleas more than two months into their London trial that started in April."

Australian Broadcasting Corporation

Omar Altimimi, July 2007

"A man who sought asylum in Britain was convicted Thursday of possessing terrorist training manuals, including instructions on using gas canisters to make car bombs.

"There was no indication in court that Omar Altimimi, 37, had any connection to recent failed bombing attempts in London and Glasgow by terrorists using cars filled with petrol and gas canisters.

"Prosecutors said material found on Altimimi's computer identified nightclubs and airports as "suitable targets.

"The jury in Manchester Crown Crown found him guilty Wednesday of four counts of possessing material of use to terrorists, then convicted him Thursday of two further charges of the same offense and two counts of money laundering."

The International Herald Tribune

21/7 bombers, July 2007

"Four men were convicted on Tuesday of plotting to bomb London's transport system on July 21, 2005, in a botched attempt to replicate Islamist suicide bombings that had killed 52 people two weeks earlier."

Sydney Morning Herald

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