The zealot came to Britain in December 2006 with his British wife, Zijarin to take advantage of the NHS,
seeking treatment for his baby son, now five, who was ill with suspected cancer at the time.
Islamic extremist landed job with British Airways 'in terror plot
to blow up a flight to the U.S.'
By Rebecca Camber
Last updated at 9:32 PM on 1st February 2011
An Islamic extremist landed a job with British Airways with the aim of carrying out a ‘spectacular’ terrorist attack on the UK, a court heard yesterday.
Computer expert Rajib Karim, 31, is accused of plotting with terror mastermind Anwar al-Awlaki to commit an atrocity that would lead to ‘widespread loss of life’.
Desperate for martyrdom, the Bangladesh-born fanatic volunteered to train as cabin crew in the hope of blowing up aircraft, it was alleged.
The software engineer is also said to have planned to hijack BA computer systems, grounding flights, causing chaos for millions of passengers and millions of pounds of damage.
Karim had already started to build a terrorist cell in Britain, recruiting baggage handlers from Heathrow Airport and security guards who worked in UK hospitals it was claimed.
Woolwich Crown Court heard that in the last e-mail he sent the radical cleric before his arrest last February, he said he would speak to his brothers ‘to find out the possibilities of shipping a package to a US bound plane’.
Yesterday the jury was told that Karim acted as a terrorist mole for American-born al-Awlaki- the commander of the Yemen-based Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP)- passing him crucial information on the airline’s IT systems, airport security and x-ray scanners and even cabin crew names and addresses.
The zealot came to Britain in December 2006 with his British wife, Zijarin Raja to take advantage of the NHS, seeking treatment for his baby son, now five, who was ill with suspected cancer at the time.
But from the first day Karim was ‘entirely committed to an extreme Jihadist and religious cause,’ said Jonathan Laidlaw, QC, prosecuting.
‘He believes that terrorism, including the murder of civilians, is permissible to establish, as he views it, a true Islamic state.
‘As you will see from his own writings, Karim was anxious to carry out such an act and he was determined to seek martyrdom - to die and to sacrifice himself for his cause.’
The father-of-one begun working for BA’s graduate training programme in Newcastle in 2007, becoming a software engineer in ‘as good a job as could be obtained’ for terrorist purposes.
His pass gave him access to BA’s call centre on the Newcastle Business Park as well as ‘unsupervised access’ to the engineering base at Heathrow.
From there, BA’s website, e-mail system, crew roster system, engineering systems, HR and finances was run.
Karim ‘deliberately set about establishing a lifestyle which would not attract attention’, joining a gym, playing football and never airing extreme views, the jury was told.
But secretly he planned ‘the sort of spectacular attack which all terrorist organisations such as Al Qaeda aspire to,’ Mr Laidlaw said.
‘Karim believes that terrorism, including the murder of civilians, is permissible to establish, as he views it, a true Islamic state'
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...ist-planned-blow-US-flight.html#ixzz1CkRqQzpu
seeking treatment for his baby son, now five, who was ill with suspected cancer at the time.
Islamic extremist landed job with British Airways 'in terror plot
to blow up a flight to the U.S.'
By Rebecca Camber
Last updated at 9:32 PM on 1st February 2011
An Islamic extremist landed a job with British Airways with the aim of carrying out a ‘spectacular’ terrorist attack on the UK, a court heard yesterday.
Computer expert Rajib Karim, 31, is accused of plotting with terror mastermind Anwar al-Awlaki to commit an atrocity that would lead to ‘widespread loss of life’.
Desperate for martyrdom, the Bangladesh-born fanatic volunteered to train as cabin crew in the hope of blowing up aircraft, it was alleged.
The software engineer is also said to have planned to hijack BA computer systems, grounding flights, causing chaos for millions of passengers and millions of pounds of damage.
Karim had already started to build a terrorist cell in Britain, recruiting baggage handlers from Heathrow Airport and security guards who worked in UK hospitals it was claimed.
Woolwich Crown Court heard that in the last e-mail he sent the radical cleric before his arrest last February, he said he would speak to his brothers ‘to find out the possibilities of shipping a package to a US bound plane’.
Yesterday the jury was told that Karim acted as a terrorist mole for American-born al-Awlaki- the commander of the Yemen-based Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP)- passing him crucial information on the airline’s IT systems, airport security and x-ray scanners and even cabin crew names and addresses.
The zealot came to Britain in December 2006 with his British wife, Zijarin Raja to take advantage of the NHS, seeking treatment for his baby son, now five, who was ill with suspected cancer at the time.
But from the first day Karim was ‘entirely committed to an extreme Jihadist and religious cause,’ said Jonathan Laidlaw, QC, prosecuting.
‘He believes that terrorism, including the murder of civilians, is permissible to establish, as he views it, a true Islamic state.
‘As you will see from his own writings, Karim was anxious to carry out such an act and he was determined to seek martyrdom - to die and to sacrifice himself for his cause.’
The father-of-one begun working for BA’s graduate training programme in Newcastle in 2007, becoming a software engineer in ‘as good a job as could be obtained’ for terrorist purposes.
His pass gave him access to BA’s call centre on the Newcastle Business Park as well as ‘unsupervised access’ to the engineering base at Heathrow.
From there, BA’s website, e-mail system, crew roster system, engineering systems, HR and finances was run.
Karim ‘deliberately set about establishing a lifestyle which would not attract attention’, joining a gym, playing football and never airing extreme views, the jury was told.
But secretly he planned ‘the sort of spectacular attack which all terrorist organisations such as Al Qaeda aspire to,’ Mr Laidlaw said.
‘Karim believes that terrorism, including the murder of civilians, is permissible to establish, as he views it, a true Islamic state'
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...ist-planned-blow-US-flight.html#ixzz1CkRqQzpu
