'It's all because I'm a Muslim' 'Bomb' pair cleared.

Byline: By EXAMINER News Correspondent

TWO Ravensthorpe teenagers have been cleared of terror charges.

And one of them said he believed he would not have been prosecuted if he was not from a Muslim background.

Waris Ali, 18, was found not guilty of three counts of possession of an article for a terrorist purpose after a 13-day trial at Leeds Crown Court.

Co-defendant and school friend, Dabeer Hussain, 18, was also acquitted of one count of the same charge.

Friends and family of the two men hugged in the public gallery as the jury returned their verdicts after deliberating for just two and a half hours.

During the trial, the court heard that the two men had discussed a plan to spy on and blow up members of the British National Party.

They were both accused of possessing a terrorist manual on their computers called the Anarchists' Cookbook and researching bomb-making techniques from "recipes" on the internet.

Mr Ali, of Dearnley Street, Dewsbury, was also accused of buying and storing significant amounts of potassium nitrate and calcium chloride, chemicals which can be used in the preparation of a bomb.

But the teenager said he was a "prankster" who was interested in experimenting with fireworks and making smoke bombs.

Mr Hussain, of Clarkson Street, Dewsbury, said he had been sent a copy of the Anarchists' Cookbook, but had not read it and was not interested in politics.

Speaking outside the court after the verdicts, Mr Ali said he was "extremely relieved" that he had been cleared of the charges, but was angry about how he had been treated.

"I believe that if I was not from aMuslim background, I would not have been prosecuted," he said. "I have had to live in fear of being branded a terrorist."

Mr Ali continued: "I feel it was completely obvious once the police looked up the evidence that I had nothing to do with terrorism at all.

"Silly teenage chat and things I said at school were taken out of context and presented as if it was evidence that I was an extremist."

CAPTION(S):

ANGER: Waris Ali was cleared but believed the prosecution would never have been brought had he not come from a Muslim background