14 charged over UK terror plot

[dipsydoodle]

use this link and check for updates : http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30000-1231663,00...

Press conference at 16.15 Brit. Summer Time - 5 hours ahead of EST

Additional news here too :
Terror suspect lodges an appeal : http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/5271196.stm

edit - woman has now been charged/

[cal04]

1. Plotters Charged With Murder Conspiracy

About half of the 23 suspects being held in the foiled plot to blow up as many as 10 trans-Atlantic flights have been charged with conspiracy to commit murder, Britain's Sky television reported Monday. Police refused to comment on the report, which could not be immediately verified.

Authorities said a news conference was scheduled for later in the day.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-6028679...

[dipsydoodle]

2. Update - live on BBC & Sky now

11 actually charged - for now.

BBC homepage now updated : http://news.bbc.co.uk/

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

3. That was surprisingly quick.

I'd have expected them to run out the 28 days of hold-without-charges before filing.

[BooScout]

4. BBC: Eleven charged over 'bomb plot'

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/5271998.stm

Eleven people have been charged in connection with an alleged plot to blow up several transatlantic airliners.
Eight have been charged with conspiracy to murder and preparing acts of terrorism.

Two are accused of failing to disclose information and a 17-year-old faces a charge of possessing articles useful to a person preparing acts of terrorism.

One woman has been freed without charge and eleven people remain in custody, the Crown Prosecution Service said.

Ahmed Abdullah Ali, Tanvir Hussain, Umar Islam, Arafat Waheed Khan, Assad Ali Sarwar, Adam Khatib, Ibrahim Savant and Waheed Zaman are all charged with conspiracy to murder and with preparing acts of terrorism under section five of the Terrorism Act 2006.

(more)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/5271998.stm

[Drum]

5. "...articles useful to a person preparing acts of terrorism."

I'd really like to know what is on that list of items....

[muriel_volestrangler]

9. A "document or record" on bombs, I think

because the BBC page giving what appears to be the precise legal wording of the charges says:

A 17-YEAR-OLD MALE

On a day between 1 October 2005 and 10 August 2006 within the jurisdiction of the Central Criminal Court had in his possession a document or record, namely a book on improvised explosives devices, some suicide notes and wills with the identities of persons prepared to commit acts of terrorism and a map of Afghanistan containing information likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism (contrary to Section 58 (1) (b) of the Terrorism Act 2000).

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/5272264.stm

which rather implies he may have had the computer(s) with the 'martyrdom videos', and a guide to making a bomb.

[daleo]

21. A map of Afghanistan?

I guess just owning a good atlas can make you a suspect now. Any crossword puzzle fan could be charged (a good atlas comes in handy for crosswords).

[Art_from_Ark]

27. Don't forget almanacs!

ITEM II: POTENTIAL TERRORIST USE OF ALMANACS

Investigation has revealed that terrorist operatives may rely on almanacs to assist with target selection and pre-operational planning. Almanacs, available both in print and online, provide comprehensive information on a variety of topics, including government, geography, vital statistics, the economy, health matters, science and technology, weather trends, and tourism. Information commonly found in almanacs that may be exploited for terrorist use includes profiles of U.S. cities and states and information on geographic and structural features such as waterways, bridges, dams, reservoirs, tunnels, buildings, and landmarks. This information is often accompanied by photographs and maps.

http://cryptome.org/fbi-almanacs.htm

[daleo]

31. Yikes! I own an atlas (several actually) and a Farmer's Almanac

Evil! Evil!

[xchrom]

23. lol -- section 58 was one of the sections the old soviet empire

used to charge ''subversives'' with.

the more things change...

[Drum]

25. Ah, thanks for that

[The_Casual_Observer]

6. We will see what sort of a case they have.

The bomb thing seems to have degraded to peroxide.

[seriousstan]

19. I WIN!!

[Marie26]

7. I'm glad they finally brought charges nt

[BooScout]

8. From the Guardian:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/terrorism/story/0,,1855222,00...

<snip>

"At a joint press conference, the head of the Metropolitan police's anti-terrorist branch, revealed that investigations had uncovered bomb making equipment, the chemical hydrogen peroxide and a number of "martyrdom" videos."

[The_Casual_Observer]

10. I have hydrogen peroxide under my sink in a little brown bottle.

Come and get me.

[OhioChick]

11. Me, too........

[Stella_Artois]

18. They came and got them

They had a large amount, buried in a forest. Alledgedly. Lets see how this case unfolds before implying some kind of fix. Once it hits the judicial system the ability of the executive to meddle with the case is much decreased. The judiciary is somewhat more independant in the UK.

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

29. Do you also have martyrdom videos and bomb-making materials? n/t

[daleo]

32. Well, we probably all own bomb making materials

A pop bottle, a rag and a few ounces of gasoline can make a pretty effective molotov cocktail. As for martyrdom videos, if you ever looked at a news story that included a screenshot of a "martyr story", you too may own a martyrdom video (on your computer's cache).

Without a detailed description, these terms can mean anything.

[endarkenment]

12. This had better have been industrial strength HO or

their case is total bullshit. Bathroom variety HO won't do it. It remains to be shown that this plot was anything more realistic than our own miami 7 terridiocy. See earlier articles about the collapse of the case against the pakistani connection.

[The_Casual_Observer]

13. Seemed as though the thing hinged on the pakistani deal.

He was the "brains" & king pin.

[karlrschneider]

14. It's H2O2

[mikeytherat]

16. That reminds me of my old chemistry poem:

Little Johnny Smith,
he'll be with us no more,
for what he thought was H₂O,
was H₂SO₄.

mikey_the_rat

[daleo]

22. From the CBC article on the same subject

"Investigators also found bomb-making equipment and martyrdom videos on computers belonging to some of those in custody, said Clarke. He didn't say whether the people in custody appeared in the videos."

If he didn't say, then the videos were probably of someone else, not connected with this group. Anyone with an in-depth interest in the Iraq situation might have these - I am sure they are all over the internet, like the beheading videos.

Bomb making equipment might be nothing more than some wire cutters. Hydrogen peroxide comes in handy for dying your hair, or treating a minor cut.

http://www.cbc.ca/story/world/national/2006/08/21/britb...

[genieroze]

33. OMG, hydrogen peroxide? What strength? I have this in my house.

It's good for infections and when mixed with water a mild mouth rinse.

[unda cova brutha]

15. just another attempt to lock upp people with muslim names.

[Stella_Artois]

17. Not just that

With martyrdom tapes, £19k in cash, connections to an arrested alledged terrorist in Pakistan, large amounts of chemicals buried in a forest. Alledgedly. Time will tell.

[dipsydoodle]

20. That don't quite follow

Tapes have yet to be proven to be of the suspects - you can get others on Youtube.

£19k cash is no big deal for an Asian family - they are renowned for grouping family money.

Large amount of chemicals in a SUITCASE along with other things - hardly large amounts and yet to be proven as evidence.

They get officially charged ,and presumably detained tomorrow morning at Horseferry Magistrates Court. Expect our newspapers to go quiet - other they get hit with sub judice penalties which in this case would be ultra severe as could wreck the case.

No such thing as trial by TV on a Larry King Show in the UK - so TV will go quiet as well.

[Stella_Artois]

24. Interesting stuff isn't it ?

Perhaps one of them was a traveling chemical salesman ? That would certainly explain the suitcase.

[struggle4progress]

26. ‘Immense scale’ of terror searches revealed

WILLIAM TINNING
August 22 2006

... Attempting to give an idea of the size and complexity of the investigation, he said: "There have been so far some 69 searches ... in houses, flats and business premises, vehicles and open spaces.

"As well as the bomb making equipment, we have found more than 400 computers, 200 mobile telephones and 8000 items of removable storage media such as memory sticks, CDs and DVDs. So far, from the computers alone, we have removed some 6000 gigabytes of data ...

The eight charged with conspiracy to murder in connection with an alleged plot to blow up several transatlantic airliners are:
Ahmed Abdullah Ali, 25, from Walthamstow;
Tanvir Hussain, 25, from Leyton, east London;
Umar Islam, 28, from High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire - also known as Brian Young;
Arafat Waheed Khan, 25, from Walthamstow;
Assad Ali Sarwar, 26, from High Wycombe;
Adam Khatib, 19, from Walthamstow;
Ibrahim Savant, 25, from Walthamstow;
Waheed Zaman, 22, from Walthamstow.

http://www.theherald.co.uk/news/68461.html

[dipsydoodle]

28. What you might not understand

is that it is extremely unusual for our police to release that much information on a case -infact it's almost unheard of. That applies especially to the sheer amount of apparent evidence which has been gathered. You'll also find that despite the fact the suspects have been charged they will still be referred to as alleged terrorists. News will probably now go quiet because sub judice could predudice the cases - the police would throw a fit if any cases were thrown out.

Here's an update of sorts : http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/5273104.stm

If you're not familiar with the geography of London then Paddington to Westminster is about a mile as the crow flys.

[struggle4progress]

34. Thanx for the info!

[Vidar]

30. Oh no, they've seized the servers to burkasex.com.