29/04/2009

Pair Jailed For Terror Camp Training Plans

Two men cleared of helping the July 7 bombers select their targets have been jailed for plotting to attend a terrorist training camp in Pakistan.

Waheed Ali, 25, and Mohammed Shakil, 32, of Leeds, were each jailed for seven years each at Kingston Crown Court.

Both men have already spent more than two years in custody, which will be deducted from the time they will serve.

The pair were former friends of the 2005 London suicide bombers.

On Tuesday the two men and a third defendant were acquitted of helping the London bombers scout for targets.

But Ali and Shakil were convicted of conspiracy to attend a terrorist training camp, following their arrest before boarding a flight for Pakistan in 2007.

Mr Justice Gross said there was no doubt the two had planned to train at a camp for Taliban fighters.

He added that a signal had to be sent, stating it was unacceptable to join the camps - which provided fighters for the war against British and other forces in Afghanistan - and they had betrayed the country that had given their families a home.

The head of Scotland Yard's Counter Terrorism Command said that Ali and Shakil shared the same extremist beliefs as the London bombers.

Deputy Assistant Commissioner John McDowall said: "While those directly responsible for the bombings died in the attacks, we remain convinced that others must have been involved in the planning.

"I, again, would urge anybody who has any information about the July 7 attacks to come forward and contact police."

Ali and Shakil were the only people to be charged as a result of the biggest police inquiry in British history, following the terror attacks on the capital in 2005.

More than 37,000 exhibits were forensically examined, 4,700 telephones seized and 24,000 people eliminated from inquiries by an army of police and MI5 investigators.

The total cost of the two trials is likely to be more than £5 million.

Suicide bombers Mohammed Siddique Khan, Shezhad Tanweer, Hasib Hussain and Jermaine Lindsay detonated rucksack devices packed with explosives on three tube trains and a bus.

Up to 1,000 people were injured, and 52 were killed in the attacks which took place on July 7, 2005.

(JM/BMcc)

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