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Terror director Briton given life | Terror director Briton given life |
(10 minutes later) | |
A British man who became the first al-Qaeda suspect convicted in the UK of directing terrorism has been sentenced to life in jail. | |
Rangzieb Ahmed, 33, was found guilty of the offence on Thursday following a trial at Manchester Crown Court. | Rangzieb Ahmed, 33, was found guilty of the offence on Thursday following a trial at Manchester Crown Court. |
The judge described him as an "extremely dangerous man". | |
Ahmed was also found guilty of being a member of terror group al-Qaeda, along with Habib Ahmed, who was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment. | Ahmed was also found guilty of being a member of terror group al-Qaeda, along with Habib Ahmed, who was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment. |
Habib Ahmed, 29, was given nine years for being a member of the terror group and an additional year for possessing a document for terror-related purposes. | |
The taxi driver had been caught with two diaries containing details of top al-Qaeda operatives, described in court as a terrorist's contact book. | |
Both men, who are not related, are from Manchester. | Both men, who are not related, are from Manchester. |
Recruiter and organiser | |
The prosecution said Rochdale-born Rangzieb Ahmed had been part of a three-man active service cell on an unknown foreign mission. | |
Handing him a life sentence, Mr Justice Saunders said: "The prosecution case accepted by the jury was you were not one of the leaders but a recruiter and organiser of smaller terrorist cells throughout the world to work for al-Qaeda. | |
"I am satisfied you are dedicated to the cause of Islamic terrorism. You are an intelligent, capable and superficially reasonable man who is involved in terrorism. | |
"That makes you an extremely dangerous man." | |
He said he must serve a minimum of 10 years but would not be released until he was considered not to be a threat to the public. |