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London cab driver guilty of making bombs to kill US soldiers in Iraq London cab driver guilty of making bombs to kill US soldiers in Iraq
(about 1 hour later)
A British black cab driver has been found guilty of building bombs to kill US soldiers in Iraq. A London black-cab driver has become the first person to be convicted in a British court for taking part in the Iraqi insurgency after a jury found him guilty of making bombs to kill US soldiers.
Anis Abid Sardar, 38, from Wembley, London, was convicted of murder and conspiracy to murder at Woolwich crown court on Thursday in relation to improvised explosive devices planted on a road running west out of Baghdad throughout 2007. Anis Abid Sardar, 38, from Wembley, built improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in Syria, which were planted on a road running west of Baghdad throughout 2007. Sardar was convicted of murder and conspiracy to murder at London’s Woolwich crown court.
It is believed to be the first time a Briton has been convicted in a UK court for taking part in the Iraqi insurgency. One of the bombs caused the death of 34-year-old Sgt First Class Randy Johnson, of 2nd Stryker cavalry regiment, when it hit the armoured vehicle he was travelling in on 27 September 2007.
One of the bombs caused the death of 34-year-old Sergeant First Class Randy Johnson, of 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment, when it hit the armoured vehicle he was travelling in on 27 September 2007. Sue Hemming, head of special crime and counter-terrorism at the Crown Prosecution Service, said: “This was a landmark prosecution that shows we will do everything in our power to ensure that international borders are no barrier to terrorists in the UK being brought to justice for murder committed anywhere in the world.
Sardar was stopped at Heathrow and his fingerprints were taken as he made his way back to the UK from Syria, where he had built the bombs, two months after Johnson was killed. “Anis Sardar is a highly dangerous man who created bombs so large that not only did they tragically kill Sgt Randy Johnson, but they put other lives in danger and caused significant damage to heavily armoured US military vehicles.”
He was caught seven years later after officials at the FBI’s Terrorist Explosive Device Analytical Centre found his fingerprints on some of the bombs. The blast that killed Johnson blew a hole in the bottom of the vehicle beneath where he was standing and he took the full force of the blast. Attempts to save Johnson’s life on board a Medevac helicopter failed and he was pronounced dead.
The defendant originally denied to police that he had been involved in bombmaking but on the second day of his trial admitted that fingerprints found on two of four devices linked to the case were his. He was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart for members of the US military killed or injured while serving. Mark Aggers, the gunner on the Stryker vehicle, was also left with serious shrapnel wounds and three other servicemen suffered concussions in the blast near the road between Baghdad and the notorious Abu Ghraib prison.
Three other bombs were linked to Sardar, two of which were recovered intact and the other was safely detonated by a bomb disposal team. But two soldiers from 2nd battalion 5th cavalry regiment were seriously injured when a sniper shot them as they guarded it on 20 March 2007.
The IED was safely detonated but caused a massive explosion and a cloud about 45 metres high (150ft), the court heard.
Sardar was randomly stopped at Heathrow and his fingerprints were taken as he made his way back to the UK from Syria, where he had built the bombs, two months after Johnson was killed.
He was caught seven years later after officials at the FBI’s terrorist explosive device analytical centre found those fingerprints on two of the bombs.
Police and prosecutors have not detailed how the British and US authorities worked together to identify Sardar as a suspect.
His fingerprints were not on the device that killed Johnson but all four bombs had those of his co-conspirator, Sajjad Adnan, on them. Prosecutors said the pair had worked together and with others to build and plant the IEDs. Adnan, who is not British, was arrested after the bombings and handed over to the Iraqi authorities. His whereabouts are unknown.
Sardar originally denied to police that he had been involved in bombmaking but on the second day of his trial admitted that fingerprints found on two of four devices linked to the case were his.
He maintained that he was innocent, telling the jury that he became involved in the Iraqi insurgency to protect his fellow Sunni Muslims from Shia militias and that he had not targeted US soldiers. Sardar blamed “the likes of Dick Cheney, George Bush and Tony Blair” for their deaths.He maintained that he was innocent, telling the jury that he became involved in the Iraqi insurgency to protect his fellow Sunni Muslims from Shia militias and that he had not targeted US soldiers. Sardar blamed “the likes of Dick Cheney, George Bush and Tony Blair” for their deaths.
In 2012, officers who were searching his London home as part of a separate investigation found an Arab-language bombmaking manual with references to Islam on a computer disc. In 2012, officers who were searching his London home as part of a separate investigation found an Arab-language bombmaking manual with references to Islam on a computer disc. Sardar had claimed that he travelled to Syria to learn Arabic.
A jury of seven women and five men took 11 hours and 16 minutes to find him guilty by a majority of 11-1 on the charge of murder and unanimously on the conspiracy to murder count. A jury of seven women and five men took 11hr 16min to find him guilty by a majority of 11-1 on the charge of murder and unanimously on the conspiracy to murder count.
Mr Justice Globe said he would sentence Sardar at 10am on Friday. Hemming said: “Although Anis Sardar’s fingerprints were found only on two of the bombs, it is beyond doubt that he was part of a joint enterprise to make four such devices, and potentially many others, given their similarity and location. He knew precisely what he was doing and was working with murderous intent against coalition forces.”
Mr Justice Globe said he would sentence Sardar on Friday.