Four Muslims have admitted plotting to blow up the London Stock Exchange by placing a bomb in the toilets. London Mayor Boris Johnson was also on the list of targets, together with two rabbis, the American Embassy, the London Eye and Westminster Abbey. Nine men admitted various terror crimes yesterday at Woolwich Crown Court and will be sentenced next week.
Lynchpin" Mohammed Chowdhury, 21, and his London accomplice Shah Rahman, 28, were followed by undercover detectives in November 2010 and their plans were thwarted before firm dates could be set. They were all members of radial Islamic groups and stayed in touch with each other by computer, mobile phone and at meetings held in parks to make surveillance difficult.
And here’s the kicker – although admitting their guilt, their barrister said their intention was not “to cause death or even injury but the intention was to terrorise, damage property and to cause economic damage.”
The nine men were not members of al Qaida but were inspired by its former Yemeni boss, American-born Anwar al Awlaki, who was killed last year in a drone strike in the Arabian Peninsula. Al-Qaeda in the Arab Peninsula (AQAP) use internet propaganda to inspire radicals to carry out attacks against the countries they live in and had in their possession the al Qaida magazine Inspire, which contained a feature: "Make A Bomb In The Kitchen Of Your Mom."
The planned threats were not just facing London, the group planned to leave homemade bombs in the toilets of their local pubs at various other locations throughout the UK.
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