Man admits fertiliser bomb link

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A man who bought more than half a ton of fertiliser knew it would be used for bombing but thought it would be used in Kashmir not Britain, he told a court.

Anthony Garcia, 24, and six other men are on trial at the Old Bailey accused of planning a UK-wide bombing campaign.

He told the court he was asked to buy the fertiliser by co-accused Omar Khyam and thought it had gone to Pakistan.

The men were arrested when the fertiliser was found in a west London depot in 2004. They deny all charges.

I thought it was going to help people in Kashmir Anthony Garcia

Mr Garcia told the jury Mr Khyam had told him the "brothers" in Pakistan had asked him to "get some fertiliser and ship it out to them".

"He said he could not do it because he is Asian and might arouse some suspicion," he said.

Mr Garcia, who changed his name from Rahman Adam to further his modelling career, said he had been fundraising for the Muslim fight to gain independence for Indian Kashmir.

He said: "At the time I thought it was really the same as fundraising because I thought it was going to help people in Kashmir - to be used as an explosive, as a bomb.

"It would be basically to protect the villages under attack from the Indian soldiers."

He said he thought the fertiliser had been shipped to Pakistan and the next he heard about it was in March 2004 when he was arrested.

Terror charges

The prosecution alleges the men were part of a cell linked to al-Qaeda which was targeting utilities, the Bluewater shopping centre in Kent, and the Ministry of Sound nightclub in London.

Omar Khyam, 24; his brother Shujah Mahmood, 19; Waheed Mahmood, 34; and Jawad Akbar, 23, all from Crawley, Sussex; Salahuddin Amin, 31, from Luton, Bedfordshire; Anthony Garcia, 24, of Barkingside, east London; and Nabeel Hussain, 21, of Horley, Surrey, deny conspiring to cause explosions likely to endanger life between January 1, 2003 and March 31, 2004.

Mr Khyam, Mr Garcia and Mr Hussain deny a further charge under the Terrorism Act of possessing 1,300lb (600kg) of ammonium nitrate fertiliser for terrorism.

Mr Khyam and Mr Mahmood also deny possessing aluminium powder for terrorism.

The trial was adjourned until Wednesday.