Suspect charged over soldier kidnap plot
One of the men arrested in last week’s counter-terrorism raid in Birmingham has been charged with plotting to kidnap and kill a member of the British armed forces.
Parviz Khan is one of five men charged by police for offences under the Terrorism Acts 2000 and 2006, and are all set to appear before Westminster magistrates court today.
The 36-year-old has also been charged with intending to supply equipment for use in acts of terrorism and of entering into a funding arrangement which may be used for terrorism, a spokeswoman for the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said.
Mohammed Irfan, 30, Zahoor Iqbal, 29, Hamid Elasmar, 43, have been charged with two offences, and Amjad Mahmood, 31, has been charged with three offences.
Three of the men arrested last week have been released without charge – two were released on Wednesday and another, aged 38, was released overnight.
David Shaw, assistant chief constable of West Midlands police, told a press conference that his force had made “extraordinary progress” and the charges today were a “very significant development”. However, he warned the probe was not yet complete.
“To-date we have seized over 4,500 exhibits, which include computers, mobile phones and documents. Many of these exhibits have yet to be examined and will require many hours of analysis. This has been a very significant operation for us,” he said.
He added: “Although I am extremely encouraged by the way in which this investigation has been progressed it is vital that we do not fail to acknowledge the stark realisation of what was being planned in our midst.
“We now have a vital task in working to ensure that we do everything we can to reduce the likelihood of this sort of criminality taking place.”
Yesterday, one of those released spoke out against the manner of his arrest. Abu Bakr said Britain was now a “police state for Muslims”. However, the prime minister’s official spokesman dismissed this claim as “categorically wrong”.
