Author:
Publication: Daily Mail
Date: February 7, 2008
URL: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=512796&in_page_id=1770
The fanatic who plotted to kidnap and behead
a British soldier wanted his three-year-old daughter to marry a jihadi terrorist,
a court heard.
Terrorist cell leader Parviz Khan, 37, was
secretly recorded in his home telling friend Zahoor Iqbal how the toddler
talked about cooking food for the "men in the mountains" .
Khan added: "Inshallah (God willing)
- she'll marry into them and give birth to them".
But Iqbal, who is on trial accused of helping
Khan send equipment to be used by extremists in Afghanistan, denied Khan was
talking about Mujahideen insurgents.
Nigel Rumfitt, QC, prosecuting, told him:
"That is as sick as it gets.
"He wants his three-year-old daughter
to marry Mujahideen terrorists and give birth to more of them.
"That is what he is training her to want
by asking her what she will cook for them in the mountains."
But Iqbal told the jury at Leicester Crown
Court that Khan meant he wanted his daughter to marry an Afghan mountain villager.
Iqbal added that he never suspected Khan was
sending equipment to Al-Qaeda terrorists fighting coalition forces and instead
thought the shipments were for earthquake relief.
"All I saw were fleeces and thermals
.l never saw any radar detectors or night vision equipment," he claimed.
Iqbal also told the jury that he did not take Khan seriously when he talked
about terrorism.
"I thought he was a fantasist,"
Iqbal said, "His mindset and mental state had changed.
"It was just him talking and I went along
with it."
Khan has admitted being the mastermind behind
an "evil" plot to abduct a Muslim British soldier and behead him
"like a pig" in a lock-up garage.
He planned to snatch his intended victim with
the help of drug-dealers as the target was enjoying an night out before murdering
him on film.
Footage of the "ghastly" killing
would then be released "to spread fear among the armed forces and public",
the jury has been told.
Khan was the "hub" of a cell whose
main purpose was to send supplies to Pakistan for use by terrorists fighting
coalition forces in Afghanistan.
But he concocted his plot to kidnap a squaddie
from the streets of Birmingham because he was "enraged" that there
were Muslims in the British army.
The plan was scuppered when police and members
of the security services swooped on Khan last January after secretly bugging
his terraced home.
The jury has been told Khan has admitted engaging
in conduct with the intention to commit acts of terrorism between April 2006
and February 2007.
He also admits supplying equipment for use in terrorism and possessing a document
likely to be useful in committing or preparing an act of terrorism.
Iqbal, Perry Barr, Birmingham, denies engaging
in conduct with the intention of assisting in the commission of acts of terrorism.
The 30-year-old also denies possessing a document
or record likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of
terrorism.
Khan, Alum Rock, Birmingham, allegedly enlisted
two other men, Amjad Mahmood and Basiru Gassam, to identify a soldier for
his plot.
Shopworker Mahmood, denies a charge of failing
to disclose information relating to an act of terrorism.
The 32-year-old, who worked near Khan's home,
also denies engaging in conduct with the intention of assisting in the commission
of acts of terrorism.
Gassama, 30,of Hodge Hill, Birmingham, has
pleaded guilty to failing to disclose information relating to an act of terrorism.
Two other Muslim men who are alleged to have
been members of Khan's terrorist cell were also charged with terrorism-related
offences.
Hamid Elasmar, 44, Edgbaston, Birmingham,
has admitted engaging in conduct with the intention of assisting in acts of
terrorism.
The jury has been told 31-year-old Mohammed
Irfan, of Ward End, Birmingham, has also pleaded guilty to the same charge.