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21/7 plan 'was Iraq war protest' | 21/7 plan 'was Iraq war protest' |
(about 2 hours later) | |
Plans for the alleged 21 July terror attacks were made because mainstream protests against the Iraq war were not working, a court has heard. | Plans for the alleged 21 July terror attacks were made because mainstream protests against the Iraq war were not working, a court has heard. |
Muktar Ibrahim, 29, told Woolwich Crown Court he had made the devices which failed to go off across London's transport network. | Muktar Ibrahim, 29, told Woolwich Crown Court he had made the devices which failed to go off across London's transport network. |
He planned to create a "fake explosive" in a demonstration that would cause panic but not hurt anybody, he said. | |
Six defendants deny conspiracy to murder and to cause explosions. | Six defendants deny conspiracy to murder and to cause explosions. |
'Cause panic' | 'Cause panic' |
The men are accused of carrying out an extremist Muslim plot designed to cause chaos in July 2005. | The men are accused of carrying out an extremist Muslim plot designed to cause chaos in July 2005. |
Mr Ibrahim, from Stoke Newington, north London, who wore a pink tie, lilac shirt and dark suit, is the first of the six to appear in the witness box. | |
Seeing non-Muslims protesting and speaking out about the war made me feel as a Muslim that I should do something stronger Muktar Ibrahim | Seeing non-Muslims protesting and speaking out about the war made me feel as a Muslim that I should do something stronger Muktar Ibrahim |
He told the court that he and co-defendant Yassin Omar had taken part in several anti-war demonstrations across London against what was happening in Iraq and Afghanistan. | |
"Seeing non-Muslims protesting and speaking out about the war made me feel as a Muslim that I should do something stronger," said Mr Ibrahim. | "Seeing non-Muslims protesting and speaking out about the war made me feel as a Muslim that I should do something stronger," said Mr Ibrahim. |
He said he became increasingly determined to do something after reading a letter posted on a website from a woman prisoner claiming she was raped by her captors at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. | |
Mr Ibrahim said: "It made me even more determined to take positive action against the injustice that is taking place in Iraq." | |
'Bomb video' | |
The idea for the 21 July attacks came from a discussion with Mr Omar, the court heard. | The idea for the 21 July attacks came from a discussion with Mr Omar, the court heard. |
Mr Ibrahim said: "Omar said something like, 'what if we do something that would stand out, carry out a demonstration that would make people think there was going to be some sort of explosion?'" | |
Mr Ibrahim's defence counsel, George Carter-Stephenson QC, asked if they had been talking about making real explosions. | Mr Ibrahim's defence counsel, George Carter-Stephenson QC, asked if they had been talking about making real explosions. |
The defendant replied: "No, just something like a firework, a firecracker - something that would make noise and cause panic." | The defendant replied: "No, just something like a firework, a firecracker - something that would make noise and cause panic." |
When I saw how easy it is to make this stuff, [an] idea came into my head I could use it to make a fake explosive Muktar Ibrahim | |
He told the court that in November 2004 he and Mr Omar watched an hour-long video in Arabic about how to make a home-made hydrogen peroxide bomb. | |
Mr Ibrahim said: "I told Omar that we could use this for our demonstration. But I was thinking, at that stage, only to use a detonator." | |
He added: "When I saw how easy it is to make this stuff, [an] idea came into my head I could use it to make a fake explosive." | |
It never occurred to him to make anything other than a fake explosive, he said. | It never occurred to him to make anything other than a fake explosive, he said. |
Mr Ibrahim added: "If you know how to make it, you can make it so as not to work if you have got enough information." | Mr Ibrahim added: "If you know how to make it, you can make it so as not to work if you have got enough information." |
The jury was told that Ibrahim initially did not intend to detonate his home-made explosive. | |
"The device was going to be left unattended in a public place - that was the initial plan. We did not have any special (targets), just public places." | |
He went on: "We thought the police would take it seriously at the scene, but we thought that the scientists would conclude that it was fake, not real. | |
"I did not think I was going to be in trouble because it was just a hoax." | |
Holy war | |
Mr Ibrahim said he had taken notes while watching the instruction video "many times" and decided to build a hydrogen peroxide-based explosive with a TATP detonator. | |
But he repeatedly insisted he had never intended the device to work. | |
When asked why he had tried to boil down the hydrogen peroxide to its optimum concentration for explosive, he replied "to make it as realistic as possible". | |
Mr Ibrahim said the device would not explode because there was no booster to help the TATP detonate the main charge. | |
He denied ever telling a flatmate, who can be identified only under the pseudonym Michael Bexhill, that he went to Pakistan to train for jihad, or holy war. | |
Mr Ibrahim told the court he had visited the country in 2004, but only for a holiday. | Mr Ibrahim told the court he had visited the country in 2004, but only for a holiday. |
Mr Ibrahim is on trial with Mr Omar, 26, from New Southgate, north London; Manfo Kwaku Asiedu, 33, of no fixed address; Hussein Osman, 28, of no fixed address; Ramzi Mohammed, 25, of North Kensington, west London; and Adel Yahya, 24, of High Road, Tottenham, north London. |
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