Author: PTI
Publication: The Times of India
Date: July 8, 2010
URL: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/uk/Pakistani-terror-suspect-linked-to-New-York-plot-held-in-UK/articleshow/6143897.cms
A Pakistani terror suspect, who was given
permission to stay in the UK on the ground that he might face torture in his
homeland, has been arrested on a US warrant for his alleged role in an al-Qaida
bombing plot against the New York subway and Manchester.
24-year-old Abid Naseer, who has been described
by a judge as "a serious threat to national security", was arrested
in the North East yesterday and brought to London to appear in court.
He is believed to have been living under a
control order after being detained last year in connection with an alleged
bomb plot in Manchester. Naseer was earlier not charged with any offence and
successfully resisted deportation because of fears of ill-treatment by Pakistan's
ISI.
The US Department of Justice, however, said
that investigators on both sides of the Atlantic had found evidence that linked
the New York and Manchester terror cells.
Both groups had the same code, using wedding
dates to refer to attack timings, when communicating with al-Qaida leaders
in Peshawar, Pakistan.
Naseer, who was enrolled at a college in Manchester,
wrote in an e-mail that he was planning a wedding between April 15 and 20
last year and hoped "many guests" would attend.
Mi5, Britain's internal intelligence service,
interpreted the message as referring to the date for an attack on a target
in Manchester that would result in mass casualties.
According to a report in The Times, Najibullah
Zazi, from Colorado, who is in custody in the US for the subway plot, e-mailed
the same person in Pakistan in September 2009 to say "the marriage is
ready".
His plot was allegedly timed to coincide with
the eighth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks in the US.
There has also been reference in a New York
indictment to the role played by Rashid Rauf, from Birmingham, who has been
described as a leader of al-Qaida's "external operations" programme.
Rauf is believed to have been killed in a missile strike from a US drone in
Pakistan in 2008.
Also named is Tariq ur-Rehman, who was arrested
with Naseer in Manchester last year. Rehman returned voluntarily to Pakistan
after his release and is not in custody.
The US also named a Saudi, El Shukrijumah,
34, another al-Qaida leader who is the subject of a USD 5 million FBI reward
for information leading to his capture.
"These charges underscore the global
nature of the terrorist threat we face," David Kris, US Assistant Attorney
General for National Security, said. "They further reflect the effectiveness
of mutual investigations and cooperation with our global partners in disrupting
terrorism threats."
