Date:10/10/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/10/10/stories/2008101060352100.htm

International

Glasgow attack trial begins

Hasan Suroor

LONDON: Two U.K.-based foreign doctors, charged with plotting car bomb attacks on London and Glasgow airport last year, went on trial on Thursday with prosecution claiming that they intended to cause “indiscriminate” deaths on a “wholesale scale”.

Both — Dr. Bilal Abdulla (29) and Dr. Mohammad Asha (27) — worked for the National Health Service while allegedly plotting a series of terror attacks across the United Kingdom using bombs concealed in vehicles.

They deny the charges.

Dr. Abdulla, an Iraqi citizen, was in a burning jeep, packed with explosives, that he and his accomplice Kafeel Ahmed, an Indian doctor, drove into Glasgow airport’s main terminal building on June 30, last year, in an alleged bid to blow up the complex. Dramatic TV footage of the burning jeep ramming into the building was seen around the world.

Kafeel Ahmed, who sustained serious burns, died in hospital. Dr. Abdulla and Ahmed were also allegedly behind a plot to cause explosions in central London a day before the Glasgow incident. Early on June 29, two cars laden with remotely-controlled explosives were found in the West End area but the bombs failed to detonate.

Police claimed the bomb would have caused deaths on a massive scale.

Targets

The trial started with the Prosecutor Jonathan Laidlaw, QC, telling the jury that while Dr. Abdulla built the bombs and attacked the targets with Kafeel Ahmed, Jordanian-born Dr. Asha played a role behind the scenes.

“Their plan was to carry out a series of attacks on the public using bombs concealed in vehicles. No warnings were to be given and the cars were to be positioned in busy urban areas. These men were intent on committing murder on an indiscriminate and a wholesale scale. By carrying out a series of explosions, with no warning as to where the next strike would occur, the terrorists knew the public would be gripped by fear. They would not know where the terrorists would strike next,” he said.

Their motive, he said, was to express anger over what they perceived as Britain’s anti-Muslim foreign policy.