Operation Crevice was a raid launched by

Metropolitan Metropolitan may refer to: Areas and governance (secular and ecclesiastical) * Metropolitan archdiocese, the jurisdiction of a metropolitan archbishop ** Metropolitan bishop or archbishop, leader of an ecclesiastical "mother see" * Metropolitan ar ...

and local

police The police are Law enforcement organization, a constituted body of Law enforcement officer, people empowered by a State (polity), state with the aim of Law enforcement, enforcing the law and protecting the Public order policing, public order ...

in England on the morning of 30 March 2004. It was in response to a report indicating cells of

terrorists Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of violence against non-combatants to achieve political or ideological aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violence during peacetime or in the context of war aga ...

of Pakistani origin operating in the

Thames Valley The Thames Valley is an area in South East England that extends along the River Thames west of London towards Oxford. The area is a major tourist destination and economic hub on the M4 corridor, with a high concentration of technology companies ...

Sussex Sussex (Help:IPA/English, /ˈsʌsɪks/; from the Old English ''Sūþseaxe''; lit. 'South Saxons'; 'Sussex') is an area within South East England that was historically a kingdom of Sussex, kingdom and, later, a Historic counties of England, ...

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

and

Bedfordshire Bedfordshire (; abbreviated ''Beds'') is a Ceremonial County, ceremonial county in the East of England. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Hertfordshire to the south and the south-east, and Buckin ...

areas, the source of which was said to be an interception of an instruction sent from

Al-Qaeda , image = Flag of Jihad.svg , caption = Jihadist flag, Flag used by various al-Qaeda factions , founder = Osama bin Laden{{Assassinated, Killing of Osama bin Laden , leaders = {{Plainlist, * Osama bin Lad ...

leaders in Pakistan to militants in Britain. In March 2020 Jonathan Evans, Former Director General, MI5 gave an interview and citing one passage: 'The plot itself, however, appeared to be encouraged and fomented by al-Qa`ida in the tribal areas. It was one of the early ones we saw. It involved predominantly British citizens or British residents of Pakistani heritage, something which became something of a theme for this period'. The operation resulted in five men being found guilty in April 2007 of conspiring to cause explosions likely to endanger life.

The arrests

A number of arrests were made, and 1,300 pounds (600 kg) of

ammonium nitrate Ammonium nitrate is a chemical compound with the formula . It is a white crystalline salt consisting of ions of ammonium and nitrate. It is highly soluble in water and hygroscopic as a solid, but does not form hydrates. It is predominantly us ...

fertilizer, which can be used to make bombs, were confiscated. The chemical was seized in a storage space in

Hanwell Hanwell () is a town in the London Borough of Ealing. It is about west of Ealing Broadway and had a population of 28,768 as of 2011. It is the westernmost location of the London post town. Hanwell is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086. St ...

in west London. One of the staff reported her suspicions as to the activity to the police and subject of a police audio clip (other issues are covered). At least six homes in

Langley Green, Crawley Langley Green is a one of 14 neighbourhoods within the town of Crawley in West Sussex, England. Langley Green is in the north-west of the town and is bordered by Manor Royal to the east, Northgate to the south east, West Green to the south acro ...

, were searched, and an area was excavated at one site. A biscuit tin filled with

aluminium Aluminium (or aluminum in North American English) is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol Al and atomic number 13. It has a density lower than that of other common metals, about one-third that of steel. Aluminium has ...

powder, another potential bomb ingredient, was recovered behind a garden shed.British terror trial centers on alleged homegrown plot – Europe – International Herald Tribune
/ref> The arrest of software engineer Momin Khawaja on 29 March 2004, in

Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

, Canada, was reportedly related to Operation Crevice. He was reportedly experimenting with remote-controlled detonators. The court case against the men began in March 2006 and lasted till April 30, 2007. The

jury A jury is a sworn body of people (jurors) convened to hear evidence, make Question of fact, findings of fact, and render an impartiality, impartial verdict officially submitted to them by a court, or to set a sentence (law), penalty or Judgmen ...

was out for 27 days. The accused were named as: *Salahuddin Amin, 31, from

Luton Luton () is a town and borough in Bedfordshire, England. The borough had a population of 225,262 at the 2021 census. Luton is on the River Lea, about north-west of London. The town's foundation dates to the sixth century as a Saxon settleme ...

, Bedfordshire *Jawad Akbar, 22, from Crawley, West Sussex * Anthony Garcia (also known as Rahman Benouis), 23, of

Ilford Ilford is a large List of areas of London, town in East London, England, northeast of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Redbridge, Ilford is within the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Greater London. It had a po ...

, east London *Nabeel Hussain, 20, of

Horley Horley is a town in the borough of Reigate and Banstead in Surrey, England, south of the towns of Reigate and Redhill. The county border with West Sussex is to the south with Crawley and Gatwick Airport close to the town. It has its own econ ...

, Surrey (subsequently found not guilty) *

Omar Khyam Omar Khyam is a citizen of the United Kingdom, who led a terrorist plot in 2004. He was trained in bomb-making at the Malakand training camp in Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South ...

, 24-year-old computer student from Crawley, West Sussex, who was captain of the Sussex Under-18

Cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

team and had been expected to play for the England national team.Vidino, Lorenzo. "Al-Qaeda in Europe", 2006. Prometheus Books *Waheed Mahmood, 34, from Crawley, West Sussex *Shujah Mahmood, 19, from Crawley, West Sussex (subsequently found not guilty) Mohammad Momin Khawaja, in life imprisonment in Canada, was the eighth man charged with being involved in the plot. A ninth man,

Mohammed Junaid Babar Mohammed Junaid Babar is a Pakistani American who, after pleading guilty to terrorist related offences in New York, testified in March 2006 against a group of men accused of plotting 21 July 2005 London bombings. In return for being a government ...

, was the prosecution's star

witness In law, a witness is someone who, either voluntarily or under compulsion, provides testimonial evidence, either oral or written, of what they know or claim to know. A witness might be compelled to provide testimony in court, before a grand jur ...

. An alleged leader of this group was a man named Mohammed Quayyum Khan who was an alleged associate of both Abu Hamza and Omar Bakri. Mohammed Quayyum Khan (or "Q" as he was called by the group and the courts) was apparently still at large after the police, inexplicably, failed to arrest him. The court case was based mainly on the evidence of so-called

supergrass Supergrass are an English rock band formed in 1993. For the majority of the band's tenure, the line-up consisted of brothers Gaz (lead vocals, guitar) and Rob Coombes (keyboards), Mick Quinn (bass, backing vocals) and Danny Goffey (drums, ...

(informant) Mohammed Junaid Babar, who was found guilty of terrorist offences in the United States. The counsel for the defence called this witness "a liar, nothing more than a conceited fantasist."

The trial

The BBC reported that potential targets included the

Bluewater Bluewater(s) or Blue Water(s) may refer to: Maritime * Blue water, the global deep oceans *Blue Water 24, an American sailboat design * Blue-water navy, a navy that can operate in deep waters of open oceans * , a Panamanian tanker in service 1952- ...

shopping centre in

Greenhithe Greenhithe may refer to: *Greenhithe, Kent Greenhithe is a village in the Borough of Dartford in Kent, England, and the civil parish of Swanscombe and Greenhithe. It is located east of Dartford and west of Gravesend. Area In the past, Gree ...

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

, the

Ministry of Sound Ministry of Sound or Ministry of Sound Group is a multimedia entertainment business based in London with a nightclub, shared workspace and private members' club, worldwide events operation, music publisher (popular music), music publishing busin ...

nightclub in London and London

synagogue A synagogue, also called a shul or a temple, is a place of worship for Jews and Samaritans. It is a place for prayer (the main sanctuary and sometimes smaller chapels) where Jews attend religious services or special ceremonies such as wed ...

Mohammed Junaid Babar

was the prosecution's star witness. He was flown to London to give evidence in the case, and arrived at court amid heavy security, driven from a police station in an armoured convoy with a helicopter overhead. The prosecution claimed that he was part of the plot and had "an insight as an insider into the events and plans, which an outsider could not have." He was given immunity from prosecution in relation to the charges the British defendants face. He claims to have stolen three computers from a software company he worked for in

Peshawar Peshawar is the capital and List of cities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by population, largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It is the sixth most populous city of Pakistan, with a district p ...

and given them to Mahmood because they were needed by Al Qaeda. The company was run by the older brother of one of the founder members of

al-Muhajiroun Al-Muhajiroun (, "The Emigrants") is a Proscription, proscribed terrorist network based in Saudi Arabia and active for many years in the United Kingdom. The group was founded by Omar Bakri Muhammad, a Syrian who previously belonged to ''Hizb ut- ...

. The trial began in March 2006, and the prosecution ran its charges until the end of August. The allegations brought up by the witness testimony and evidence included the following: * Possession of a 600 kg bag of ammonium nitrate fertiliser "which could have been used to make bombs". * Planning to hide ammonium nitrate in bags of

dried fruit Dried fruit is fruit from which the majority of the original water content has been removed prior to cooking or being eaten on its own. Drying may occur either naturally, by sun, through the use of industrial dehydrators, or by freeze drying. ...

so that it could be shipped to the UK by

Federal Express FedEx Corporation, originally known as Federal Express Corporation, is an American multinational conglomerate holding company specializing in transportation, e-commerce, and business services. The company is headquartered in Memphis, Tenness ...

. * Conspiring with Mohammed Momin Khawaja, a Canadian, and other unknown persons to "cause... an explosion... of a nature likely to endanger life". * Working for Abdul Hadi, said to be number three in Al Qaeda. * Planning to transport detonators inside small radios or bottles of shampoo or shaving cream from Pakistan to the UK via Iran, Turkey, eastern Europe, and Belgium. * Planning to buy a radio-isotope bomb from the Russian mafia in Belgium. * Plotting to poison football crowds by selling spiked drinks at matches, and sell poisoned food from a takeaway restaurant. * Receiving terrorist training in the use of explosives in Pakistan. * Planning to set off explosions in shopping centres, nightclubs, synagogues, and disrupt electricity and gas supplies. The police played secret recordings during the trial made in February 2004 of the suspects discussing potential targets. * Plotting to emulate the

11 September 2001 attacks The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...

by finding 30 "brothers" willing to commit suicide and crash a plane. (This discussion was also caught on tape.) Omar Khyam's defence testimony began with him telling the court of his gradual conversion to militant jihadist and wish to help the fighters in

Kashmir Kashmir ( or ) is the Northwestern Indian subcontinent, northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term ''Kashmir'' denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir P ...

and

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

. Then, on 18 September, to the surprise of his defence counsel, Khyam refused to give any more evidence, stating that the ISI in Pakistan has had words with his family and were worried that he might reveal more about them. He added: "right now, as much as I want to clarify matters, the priority for me has to be the safety of my family so I am going to stop." He assured the judge that he understood that his refusal to answer questions might cause the jury to be suspicious. Salahuddin Amin's testimony consisted of claims that he had been tortured by his Pakistani jailers during his 10-month detention, and that this must have been known to the US and British officials who interviewed him numerous times during his detention. He said he confessed to being involved in a plot to buy an "isotope bomb" after being hung up by his wrists and beaten on his back and "things" with the lashes, and threatened to be raped by the handle. Nabeel Hussain, who loaned the money to pay for the storage of ammonium nitrate, claimed he thought it was sand. Counsel for Shujah Mahmood, who was only 16 at the time of the events, claimed he was not aware of the plot and was merely taken advantage of by his older brother. Judge Sir Michael Astill announced on 20 April 2007 that he would accept a majority verdict in the case. On 30 April, Omar Khyam, Waheed Mahmood, Jawad Akbar, Salahuddin Amin, and Anthony Garcia were found guilty of conspiring to cause explosions likely to endanger life between 1 January 2003 and 31 March 2004. Shujah Mahmood and Nabeel Hussain were found not guilty of all charges. The defendants found guilty were sentenced to life imprisonment. Omar Khyam was given a minimum term of 20 years, Anthony Garcia 20 years, Jawad Akbar 17½ years, Waheed Mahmood 20 years and Salahuddin Amin 17½ years. Momin Khawaja was found guilty in Canada’s first terrorism trial on charges of helping to develop bomb detonators, possession of explosives, helping to finance terrorist activity, receiving terrorist training and facilitating terrorism. On March 12, 2009 he was sentenced to 10.5 years in prison which was later increased to Life-24.

CBC CBC may refer to: Media * Cadena Baja California or Grupo Cadena, a radio and television broadcaster in Mexico * Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Canada's radio and television public broadcaster ** CBC Television ** CBC Radio One ** CBC Music ** ...

Khawaja found guilty in terrorism trial
October 29, 2008

Background

An organisation associated with the attacks is the group

. According to the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

, some of the perpetrators became interested in jihad during the time they were involved with

. According to Professor Anthony Glees, director of the Brunel Centre for Intelligence and Security Studies –

The fertiliser bomb trial has given us the smoking-gun evidence that groups like al-Muhajiroun have had an important part in radicalising young British Muslims, and that this can create terrorists.The network.... With a worldwide influence and a radicalised following, is al-Muhajiroun waiting to strike again? Jamie Doward and Andrew Wander report. May 6 2007
guardian.co.uk

Al-Muhajiroun was disbanded by its founder

Omar Bakri Mohammed Omar Bakri Muhammad (; born Omar Bakri Fostock; 1958) is a Syrian Islamist militant leader born in Aleppo. He was instrumental in developing Hizb ut-Tahrir in the United Kingdom before leaving the group and heading to another Islamist organisati ...

in 2004. Shortly after

7 July 2005 London bombings The 7 July 2005 London bombings, also referred to as 7/7, were a series of four co-ordinated suicide attacks carried out by Islamist terrorists that targeted commuters travelling on Transport in London, London's public transport during the ...

, Prime Minister Tony Blair "announced the group would be banned as part of a series of measures against condoning or glorifying terrorism."Muslims in police will rise up, Bakri insists. By Mike Hirst and Adam Lusher
/ref>

The arrests

The trial

Mohammed Junaid Babar

Background

References

External links