Beheading plot signalled tactical shift for terrorists

The arrest a year ago of nine people in connection with a plot to kidnap and behead a British soldier live on the internet prompted grave concern when revealed by West Midlands police.

The plot signalled a disturbing shift in terrorist tactics, from threatening the public with bombs to copying the murder of foreign captives in Iraq by Islamist extremists. In particular, it recalled the killing of the British engineer Ken Bigley, who was forced to plead for his life before being beheaded live on the internet.

Six men from Birmingham were charged over the plot: Parviz Khan, 37, Mohammed Irfan, 31, Amjad Mahmood, 32, all from Alum Rock; Hamid Elasmar, 44, of Edgbaston; Zahoor Iqbal, 30, of Perry Barr; and Basiru Gassama, 30, of Hodge Hill.

The full details of the planned atrocity were revealed during their trial at Leicester crown court last month. The jury heard that Khan, the ringleader, plotted between April 2006 and February 2007 to lure a British Muslim soldier to his death and behead him "like a pig".

Khan, 37, an unemployed teaching assistant, wanted to post a film of the beheading on the internet to "cause panic and fear within the armed forces and the wider public". Khan, who pleaded guilty to his role in the plot, was said to be behind a terrorist cell and had been under surveillance by the security services.

Nigel Rumfitt QC, prosecuting, told the court last month the plotters intended to produce a video showing the soldier's ID card to prove who he was. Khan was "enraged by the idea that Muslim soldiers were in the British army". He decided to kidnap a soldier on a night out, with the help of drug dealers from Birmingham.

In covert recordings Khan, who was given the codename Motorway Madness during surveillance operations, was heard to say: "It would terrorise British soldiers and young Blair is going to go crazy."

Rumfitt said of the beheading plan: "The initial idea was to approach him in Broad Street [in Birmingham] and lure him into a car, then take him to a lock-up garage and there he would be murdered by having his head cut off 'like a pig'." The court also heard that Khan had mentioned using cocaine to lure the victim.

Khan had approached Gassama to help identify a victim. Gassama pleaded guilty to failing to inform the authorities of the plot, but he did not take active steps in it beyond giving the impression that he wanted to help. In November 2006, Khan showed him videos of beheadings to gain his support.

Khan also admitted to supplying equipment to terrorists on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. The court was told Khan gathered money and equipment to be sent out to Pakistan and to terrorists operating in and around the Afghan border. He claimed he was helping earthquake victims, but the court heard that the trips began 10 months before the earthquake in October 2005.

Khan and the defendants actively assisted terrorists who were trying to kill British, US and Canadian soldiers, the court heard.

Rumfitt said equipment sent to Pakistan included night-vision apparatus, computer hard drives and range finders.

"Mr Khan is at the hub of a terrorist network shipping equipment to Pakistan to be used by extreme jihadists. His co-defendants were all helping him, knowing full well what he was up to," the QC said. "Parviz Khan is a fanatic - a man who has the most violent and extreme Islamist views. He is at the centre of a terror cell, or network, based in Birmingham."

Irfan and Elasmar pleaded guilty to helping Khan supply the equipment.

Iqbal was found guilty of supplying equipment for terrorist acts and supplying money or property for use in terrorism. The court heard Iqbal sent more than £12,000 via a money transfer company in Birmingham to an office in Pakistan, which was retrieved by Khan.

Iqbal was cleared of possessing material likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism, namely a computer disc called Encyclopaedia Jihad. Mahmood was cleared of a charge of helping supply equipment for terrorist activities.

Mahmood was cleared of knowing about the beheading plot and failing to inform the authorities about it. He was also cleared of helping Khan to send equipment to Pakistan.