London father-of-three 'helped his brother plot terror attacks in Somalia'

Kiran Randhawa and Martin Bentham

04 April 2012




A London father of three helped his brother plot attacks in Somalia and owned a terror manual written by one of al Qaeda’s most senior figures, a court heard today.



Mohammed Shabir Ali, 24, from Stepney, was accused of funding his brother Mohammed Shamim in “numerous ways” to travel to the east African country to fight and become a martyr.



Westminster magistrates also heard that he was found with a manual, 44 Ways to Support Jihad, written by extremist cleric Anwar al Awlaki — the man who inspired the Detroit underpants bomber and the woman who tried to stab to death East Ham MP Stephen Timms.



Today’s hearing came as 10 people, including the heads of Somalia’s Olympic and football federations, were killed by a girl suicide bomber in the Somali capital Mogadishu.



The al Qaeda linked militant group al Shabaab claimed responsibility for the bombing, which took place at the newly reopened national theatre at an event also attended by Somali prime minister Abdiweli Mohamed Ali.



The allegations against Ali were outlined by prosecutor Louise Gray, who said that he had helped his brother, who left the UK with two other men, to “commit acts of terrorism in Somalia” by raising cash to help fund his trip.



She said he had also been found with Awlaki’s manual during a raid by counter-terrorism police on his home in Stepney. It also led to the arrest of two other men, aged 24 and 30, and a 21-year-old woman, who all remain in police custody.



Shaven headed Ali sat with his hands in his pocket while the charges of assisting another to commit acts of terrorism and possessing a terror manual were read out.



The offences were allegedly committed between 20 August 2008 and 21 June last year. He did not enter a plea and spoke only to confirm his name and address.



He was remanded in custody to appear at the Old Bailey on 20 April after District Judge Caroline Tubbs refused an application for bail.



Unemployed Ali, whose three children are aged four, two and 18 months, was supported at court by his wife and other family members, one of whom saluted him as he walked in.



The terror manual allegedly found in his possession was written by American-born Awlaki, who was killed last year in a drone strike after leading al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.



His teachings were said to have influenced Mohammed Merah who carried out a spate of shootings in south-west France last month. He killed seven people, including children, before he was shot by police.



The acts by a lone al Qaeda terrorist fits the profile of a new generation of Islamist terrorists who are now regarded as posing a major security threat to the West.



Awlaki, whose perfect command of English made him a highly effective al Qaeda propagandist, regularly posted sermons on the internet urging his followers to carry out attacks against Western “infidels” using any means at their disposal.



In Britain, his sermons were blamed for the attack on Mr Timms at his constituency surgery in May 2010, when Roshonara Choudhry, 21, tried to stab him to death with a kitchen knife.



British security officials have also broken up several al Qaeda plots in which militants were planning to attack crowded shopping centres with primitive explosives.



A Scotland Yard spokesman confirmed that two men and a woman remain in custody as part of the investigation into the offences allegedly committed by Ali and have not yet been charged.

19 arrested in two-day blitz on drug gang

Benedict Moore-Bridger 29 February 2012

Scotland Yard smashed a drugs gang today by arresting 19 suspected members in a series of dawn raids.



Officers stormed known criminals' homes in Haringey in a two-day blitz as part of a crackdown on gang activity in London by the Met's new task force.



Detectives said the raids on the Somali gang would have a big impact on improving residents' lives by taking out major players in its drug network. It is one of four known "street gangs" in the area being targeted by officers from the

Trident Crime Gang Command.



The action, codename Operation Fadden, saw several "high-harm" individuals aged 17 to 30 arrested on suspicion of possession and dealing Class A drugs.



Two were also arrested for possessing CS spray and having a dangerous dog. In a raid at Wood Green, a 17-year-old suspected gang member yelled in defiance as officers led him away in handcuffs. Bags of cannabis were seized.



A police source said: "These gangs have built up a reputation of being untouchable in the area. They are not as organised as some of the major criminal networks but they have a hierarchy of employees, several drug runners and a lucrative turnover selling mainly heroin and crack cocaine.



"They are known to supply drugs quite openly - in parks, in front of children and people going to work. That is why they have been targeted."



Gang members were also tailed and snatched on the streets. Det Chief Insp Tim Champion, who led today's operation, said: "They don't have a Mr Big. There is a degree of structure but they are fairly chaotic.



"However, that makes them dangerous. It's either kill or be killed, as we saw on Boxing Day in Oxford Street where two gangs argued over shoplifting and it resulted in murder.



"We've disrupted that drugs network and these arrests will have a big impact, but it is not the end. We have ongoing operations against many other gangs.



"Normally after arrests you get a void but we are fully aware of the potential for new people to move in."