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| Version 4 | Version 5 |
|---|---|
| Man admits plot to behead soldier | Man admits plot to behead soldier |
| (about 3 hours later) | |
| A 37-year-old Birmingham man has pleaded guilty to plotting to kidnap and kill a British soldier. | A 37-year-old Birmingham man has pleaded guilty to plotting to kidnap and kill a British soldier. |
| Parviz Khan, an unemployed charity worker, intended to seize and behead the unnamed Muslim serviceman "like a pig", Leicester Crown Court was told. | Parviz Khan, an unemployed charity worker, intended to seize and behead the unnamed Muslim serviceman "like a pig", Leicester Crown Court was told. |
| Three other men, Basiru Gassama, 30, Mohammed Irfan, 31, and Hamid Elasmar, 44, have admitted other offences connected with Khan's plot. | Three other men, Basiru Gassama, 30, Mohammed Irfan, 31, and Hamid Elasmar, 44, have admitted other offences connected with Khan's plot. |
| The court heard Amjad Mahmood, 32, and Zahoor Iqbal, 30, denied involvement. | The court heard Amjad Mahmood, 32, and Zahoor Iqbal, 30, denied involvement. |
| He would be taken to a lock-up garage and there he would be murdered by having his head cut off like a pig Nigel Rumfitt QC | He would be taken to a lock-up garage and there he would be murdered by having his head cut off like a pig Nigel Rumfitt QC |
| The jury was told how Khan, of Alum Rock, intended to kidnap the soldier while on a night out, behead him in a lock-up garage and then release footage of the killing on the internet. | The jury was told how Khan, of Alum Rock, intended to kidnap the soldier while on a night out, behead him in a lock-up garage and then release footage of the killing on the internet. |
| Nigel Rumfitt QC, prosecuting Mr Mahmood and Mr Iqbal, who both deny two offences relating to the plot, told the court that Khan had planned to seize the serviceman in Birmingham's Broad Street entertainment district. | |
| "He would be taken to a lock-up garage and there he would be murdered by having his head cut off like a pig," he said. | "He would be taken to a lock-up garage and there he would be murdered by having his head cut off like a pig," he said. |
| "This atrocity would be filmed... and the film released to cause panic and fear within the British armed forces and the wider public." | "This atrocity would be filmed... and the film released to cause panic and fear within the British armed forces and the wider public." |
| 'Extreme views' | |
| Mr Rumfitt told the jury that Khan had been "a fanatic" at the centre of an Islamist terrorist "cell" based in the Birmingham area. | |
| He had gathered computer hard drives, range-finders and night-vision equipment, which was to be sent to terrorists operating near the Afghan border in Pakistan, the court heard. | |
| "He is a man who has the most violent and extreme views, " Mr Rumfitt said. | |
| Basiru Gassama, Mohammed Irfan and Hamid Elasmar admitted some offences. | |
| "He was enraged by the idea that there were Muslim soldiers in the British army, some of them Muslims from The Gambia in West Africa." | |
| The jury was told that Khan had wanted Gassama, a Gambian national, to help identify the victim of the plot. | |
| But when Gassama had failed to provide details of a target, the plan "lay dormant" after July 2006, Mr Rumfitt said, only to be revived in November 2006. | |
| Birmingham Raids | |
| Khan, who also admits intending to supply equipment to terrorists on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, pleaded guilty to the plot earlier this month, but his plea can only now be reported as the trial of Mr Mahmood and Mr Iqbal has begun. | Khan, who also admits intending to supply equipment to terrorists on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, pleaded guilty to the plot earlier this month, but his plea can only now be reported as the trial of Mr Mahmood and Mr Iqbal has begun. |
| Mr Mahmood denies knowing about Khan's plot and failing to disclose information about it, while Mr Iqbal denies possessing a computer disc called Encyclopaedia Jihad, which would be likely to be useful to a terrorist. | Mr Mahmood denies knowing about Khan's plot and failing to disclose information about it, while Mr Iqbal denies possessing a computer disc called Encyclopaedia Jihad, which would be likely to be useful to a terrorist. |
| Amjad Mahmood and Zahoor Iqbal deny involvement | |
| Both men have also pleaded not guilty to helping Khan supply equipment to terrorists in Pakistan. | Both men have also pleaded not guilty to helping Khan supply equipment to terrorists in Pakistan. |
| Irfan and Elasmar have pleaded guilty to helping Khan supply the equipment, while Gassama, of Hodge Hill, Birmingham, has admitted knowing about the plot and not telling anyone about it. | |
| The men were arrested in a series of high-profile raids in Birmingham at the end of January last year after an investigation led by West Midlands Police Counter-Terrorism Unit. | The men were arrested in a series of high-profile raids in Birmingham at the end of January last year after an investigation led by West Midlands Police Counter-Terrorism Unit. |
| Khan was later charged with plotting to kidnap and kill a member of the British armed forces between 2 April 2006 and 1 February 2007. | Khan was later charged with plotting to kidnap and kill a member of the British armed forces between 2 April 2006 and 1 February 2007. |