The PC header should have been ‘Six Innocent Muslim Teenagers Entrapped With Fireworks’

The Mail calls them correctly ‘Islamic Terrorists’, which is a breath of fresh air:

• They arrived at rally at 4pm – only to find it had finished at 2pm
• Extremists’ car stopped on their way home because it had no insurance
• Vehicle is towed with a cache of weapons hidden inside
• They had a nail bomb, two shotguns and swords – but they weren’t found at the compound for TWO DAYS
• Group didn’t take mobiles with them on day of the attack to avoid detection
• Jewel Uddin was involved in another bomb plot which could have been ‘bigger than the 7/7 atrocities’

Six Islamic extremists who plotted a bloody bomb attack on a far-right rally only failed because the gathering finished early – even though they were under surveillance, a court heard.

The group admitted planning a murderous attack at the English Defence League (EDL) event in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, when they appeared before a judge today.

Five members of the gang travelled to the rally with an arsenal of weapons – including a nail bomb which contained 458 pieces of shrapnel, a partially assembled pipe bomb, two shotguns, swords and knives.

Scroll down for video of the arrests and the EDL rally

Plotters: Jewell Uddin, who was also linked to another terror plot, and Anzal Hussain who today admitted planning the attack on the EDL rally in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, in June last year

 Guilty: Mohammed Hasseen, left, and Omar Khan who today admitted their role at Woolwich Crown COurt

Court: Zohaib Ahmed and Mohammed Saud were also involved in the plot which only unravelled by chance

The nail bomb was an 18-inch (46cm) long rocket which had been stuffed with shrapnel and was to be powered by explosives taken from at least two large fireworks.

The fanatics’ plan failed by chance, because they arrived at 4pm when the rally had dispersed by 2pm.

Police and security services had no intelligence about the planned attack on June 30 last year, although one of the would-be killers was under surveillance in relation to another terrorist plan.

It was only on their way back to Birmingham on the M1 that their car was pulled over because they didn’t have insurance, and the plot unravelled.

Nail bomb: This 18-inch long device contains 458 pieces of shrapnel and was to be powered by explosives taken from at least two large fireworks

Explosive: Ball bearings and nails which were found inside the nail bomb when it was taken apart by police ballistics experts

Cache of weapons: A fearsome haul of knives which were found hidden inside the Laguna after it was pulled over because it had no insurance

The car was impounded and it was only two days later that staff looked at the contents of the Renault Laguna – and found the arsenal of weapons.

At London’s Woolwich Crown Court today Jewel Uddin, Omar Mohammed Khan, Mohammed Hasseen, Anzal Hussain, Mohammed Saud and Zohaib Ahmed admitted preparing an act of terrorism between May 1 and July 4 last year.

All of the men except Hasseen travelled to the rally.

Another of the group, Zohaib Ahmed, was also on bail for possession of terrorist documents at the time of the plot.

Police estimated there could have been up to 750 EDL marchers at the Dewsbury event, but also dozens of officers and innocent passers-by.

In the car there were also 10 copies of a hate-filled note addressed to the enemies of Islam, the Queen and Prime Minister David Cameron.

Pipe bomb: These are parts of a partially put together pipe bomb which was seized by police

It said: ‘This is a message to the enemies of Allah and his messenger. This is a message to the kafir (non-believer) female devil and self-proclaimed Queen Elizabeth and her accursed jubilee, fooling a nation of blind sheep to your self-proclaimed royalty and majesty.’

The document addressed the EDL directly, saying: ‘To the EDL (English Drunkards League). O enemies of Allah! We have heard and seen you openly insulting the final Messenger of Allah… you should know that for every action there is a reaction.

‘Today is a day of retaliation (especially) for your blasphemy of Allah and his Messenger Muhammad. We love death more than you love life. The penalty for blasphemy of Allah and his Messenger Muhammad is death.

‘What we did today was a direct retaliation of your insulting of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and also in retaliation of your crusade against Islam/Muslims on a global scale. It is of the greatest honour for us to do what we did.’

CDs of speeches by radical preacher Anwar al-Awlaki were also found.

Police and security services had the sixth man under low-level surveillance in relation to another terrorist plot.

EDL bomb plotters. Moment guilty men stopped

Rally: The plotters were targeting this EDL rally in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, but were foiled because they arrived too late – after the crowds had gone

He had been seen with Khan going into a shop five days before the rally, but no officer followed them in to Home Choice in Sparkhill because contact would have been too close.

In fact they were going to buy the kitchen knives which were among the weapons that the gang planned to use.

Hasseen also pleaded guilty to possessing a document or record containing information of a kind likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism on July 3.

All six of the men played five-a-side football together and went to the same gym at the Darul Ihsan Islamic centre, known as the Baker Street gym, where Saud and Hussain worked.

Police said they deliberately did not take their mobile phones with them on the day of the attack to try to avoid detection.

They had searched the internet for details of how much information detectives can glean from mobile phone data.

It can now be reported that Uddin was flagged up as a person of interest to security services and police after his minor involvement with another group of terrorist plotters.

He was involved as a bucket-shaker doing charity collections for the extremists, who planned to detonate up to eight rucksack bombs and possibly other devices on timers.

Caught on camera: Five of the men are seen on CCTV in Dewsbury at approximately 4.37pm – two hours after the EDL rally had finished

Terror targets: EDL demonstrators were the target of the Muslim extremists at the rally in Dewsbury last June

Irfan Naseer, 31, Irfan Khalid, 27, and Ashik Ali, 27, all from Birmingham, were convicted in February of planning the attack, which could have been bigger than the July 7 atrocities.

Four other men, including Anzal Hussain’s brother Ishaaq, travelled to Pakistan for terror training as part of the plot, but were sent home when family members intervened.

The men, who sat impassively together, changed their pleas and admitted their involvement via videolink.

They will be sentenced on June 6.

Judge Nicholas Hilliard QC, the Recorder of Greenwich, told the men: ‘This will attract significant custody. There is no doubt about that.

Marcus Beale, assistant chief constable with West Midlands Police and responsible for its Counter Terrorism Unit, said the six were extremely dangerous and could have maimed, killed and brought misery which would ‘have transmitted fear and anxieties to our communities’.

Attack plan: Around 750 EDL members, rivals from Unite Against Fascism and dozens of police officers were at the rally which the Muslim extremists were targeting

He said: ‘I am really pleased these six have pleaded guilty.

‘They are clearly a radicalised group with extremely dangerous intent. Their intent was to recklessly cause mayhem and probably mass injuries.’

Mr Beale said of the terrorists: ‘They have chosen to attack the EDL but their overall intent was much more in line with (the) jihadist threat.’

He said Birmingham authorities and politicians were pulling together with Muslim communities to prevent youngsters turning to extremism.

‘I am really optimistic about the future,’ he said.

Rally: Penned in by police, these are the EDL protesters in Dewsbury caught on police video from a helicopter. The gang of Muslim fanatics were targeting the protest

Rally finished early: The event was shorter than planned because EDL leader Tommy Robinson, a crowd pleaser, was not able to attend

‘We have strong political leadership and a commitment from the communities to work forwards to take the sting out of the terror threat.’

Mr Beale responded to claims the police could have swooped on Uddin earlier, saying officers dealt with him according to the evidence and ‘proportionately’.

He said: ‘We didn’t fail to join the dots.

‘We were doing what was right and proportionate at the time.’

The officer stressed investigators were acting within the boundaries of the law.

He added that the force had interrupted one attack each year since the 7/7 attacks on London, but stressed terror attack plans had ‘massively increased’.

How Islamic extremists were only foiled by chance

A series of coincidences saw the plan by Islamic fanatics to use bombs, guns and swords in a murderous attack on far-right extremists foiled.

Firstly, the five members of the gang who drove to the event on June 30 last year – all the men except Hasseen – made a mistake with their timing, arriving two hours late because the rally had finished earlier than expected.

The event was shorter than planned because EDL leader Tommy Robinson, a crowd pleaser, was not able to attend.

Seized: The group’s Renault Laguna is stopped on the M1 motorway because it had no insurance and is seized – it was two days before the arsenal of weapons was discovered though

Then, as Khan and Uddin drove their silver Renault Laguna back towards Birmingham down the M1, it was recorded as uninsured when a traffic officer happened to carry out checks because the car looked old.

In fact the gang had tried to insure the Renault for one day that morning, but Saud had mistakenly entered the wrong registration number on an online form.

The car was seized because it had no insurance, and the officer took Uddin and Khan to a nearby train station so that they could get home.

It was taken to a pound near Sheffield by Woodhead Motors, and left there until the following Monday morning.

Staff then checked the contents of the car and found the gang’s array of weapons including two shotguns, swords, knives, a nail bomb and a partially assembled pipe bomb, along with a hate-filled note ranting about the enemies of Islam.

It was only then that counter-terrorism units were called in, despite the fact that police and security services already had Uddin under low-level surveillance because he was on the periphery of another terrorist plot.

Held: Traffic police stop Jewell Uddin and Omar Mohammed Khan on the M1 as they travelled back to their home town, Birmingham and seize the vehicle

This was the plan by another group of extremists from Birmingham to set off up to eight rucksack bombs and possibly other devices in an attack that they wanted to be bigger than July 7.

Uddin had been seen with Khan going into a shop five days before the rally, but no officer followed them into Home Choice in Sparkhill because contact would have been too close.

In fact they were going to buy the kitchen knives that were among the weapons that the gang planned to use.

Neither counter-terrorist police or the security services had any intelligence to suggest that the men planned to stage an atrocity.

After their weapons were found, bomb squad were called to make the shrapnel-filled rocket safe, and said afterwards that it was ‘viable’, with the potential to cause serious injury or death.

Counter-terrorism teams launched a fast-moving operation, tracing Khan, who had initially given a false name, and his passenger by scouring CCTV.

Khan had the gall to call the pound to say that he needed to get something from the car, but unbeknown to him he was already under surveillance.

Police believe that he made the nail bomb because his fingerprint was discovered on the sticky side of tape found on the device.

West Midlands Police counter-terrorism unit also discovered that the Laguna was travelling with a gold Rover 25, and again used CCTV pictures to trace the three occupants.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2317029/Six-Islamic-extremists-plead-guilty-failed-bomb-plot-English-Defence-League.html#ixzz2RxDUBcCQ
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