LONDON, Nov 7 (Reuters) Ambition and meticulous research were the hallmarks of Dhiren Barot as he constructed plots to commit mass murder in the United States and Britain.
Barot, jailed for a minimum of 40 years today in one of Britain's most prominent terrorism trials, was described by prosecutors as a member or close associate of al Qaeda, intent on killing hundreds or thousands of people.
Investigators discovered computer files setting out plans for attacks on US financial targets including the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), as well as a scheme for bombings in Britain using limousines packed with gas cylinders.
Barot's fertile imagination extended to planning a ''dirty bomb'' attack to spread radioactive contamination, the prosecution said. Another of his ideas was to blow up a London underground train beneath the River Thames.
''I quote Barot's own words,'' prosecutor Edmund Lawson said.
'''Imagine the chaos that would be caused if a powerful explosion were to rip through here and actually rupture the river itself.
This would cause pandemonium, what with the explosions, flooding, drowning etc that would occur/result.''' Barot, 34, pleaded guilty last month to conspiracy to murder. A neatly groomed man with a black beard, he betrayed no expression and quietly took notes as evidence from notebooks, computer files and reconnaissance videos was projected onto screens in the courtroom in south London.
As well as shopping lists of electrical components, it included copious research on explosives, bomb-making, radioactive substances and construction of tall buildings, focusing particularly on their ability to withstand fire.
Much of the material was gathered by Barot from research in libraries, and his fingerprints were discovered years later by detectives on some of the volumes used.
NO STONE UNTURNED One was a history of the Prudential insurance company, part of Barot's plan for attacks on iconic financial targets in the United States, according to the prosecution.
Barot drew up a 37-page plan, drafted in formal language like a business proposal, for an attack on Prudential's headquarters in Newark, New Jersey, and boasted that he had left ''no stone unturned'' in his research.
It included financial and corporate information, biographies of executives, a detailed history of the building and its construction, and information about access, car parks, security booths and surveillance cameras.
Other planned targets, described in similarly detailed computer files, were the International Monetary Fund and World Bank buildings in Washington, and the NYSE and Citigroup in New York.
The attacks were never carried out. Prosecutors said it was unclear whether they were shelved or just placed on the backburner as Barot switched his attention to planning bombings in Britain, investigating the possibility of striking London hotels and railway stations.
Skilled in anti-surveillance tradecraft and frequently using false identities, Barot was nevertheless by mid-June 2004 under constant watch by British security services.
After losing him from sight in late July, police swooped in early August to arrest Barot and seven other suspects, concerned that an attack could be imminent. The other seven deny involvement and are due to go on trial next year.
The court was told Barot, born in India to a Hindu family and brought to Britain as a baby, had converted to Islam at the age of 20 and become preoccupied with the need for Muslims to help oppressed Islamic peoples abroad. He later underwent militant training in Kashmir and the Philippines.
Impressed by the September 11 attacks, prosecutors said, he saw his planned British bombings as creating ''another memorable black day for the enemies of Islam''.
REUTERS AKJ RN2040
Barot, jailed for a minimum of 40 years today in one of Britain's most prominent terrorism trials, was described by prosecutors as a member or close associate of al Qaeda, intent on killing hundreds or thousands of people.
Investigators discovered computer files setting out plans for attacks on US financial targets including the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), as well as a scheme for bombings in Britain using limousines packed with gas cylinders.
Barot's fertile imagination extended to planning a ''dirty bomb'' attack to spread radioactive contamination, the prosecution said. Another of his ideas was to blow up a London underground train beneath the River Thames.
''I quote Barot's own words,'' prosecutor Edmund Lawson said.
'''Imagine the chaos that would be caused if a powerful explosion were to rip through here and actually rupture the river itself.
This would cause pandemonium, what with the explosions, flooding, drowning etc that would occur/result.''' Barot, 34, pleaded guilty last month to conspiracy to murder. A neatly groomed man with a black beard, he betrayed no expression and quietly took notes as evidence from notebooks, computer files and reconnaissance videos was projected onto screens in the courtroom in south London.
As well as shopping lists of electrical components, it included copious research on explosives, bomb-making, radioactive substances and construction of tall buildings, focusing particularly on their ability to withstand fire.
Much of the material was gathered by Barot from research in libraries, and his fingerprints were discovered years later by detectives on some of the volumes used.
NO STONE UNTURNED One was a history of the Prudential insurance company, part of Barot's plan for attacks on iconic financial targets in the United States, according to the prosecution.
Barot drew up a 37-page plan, drafted in formal language like a business proposal, for an attack on Prudential's headquarters in Newark, New Jersey, and boasted that he had left ''no stone unturned'' in his research.
It included financial and corporate information, biographies of executives, a detailed history of the building and its construction, and information about access, car parks, security booths and surveillance cameras.
Other planned targets, described in similarly detailed computer files, were the International Monetary Fund and World Bank buildings in Washington, and the NYSE and Citigroup in New York.
The attacks were never carried out. Prosecutors said it was unclear whether they were shelved or just placed on the backburner as Barot switched his attention to planning bombings in Britain, investigating the possibility of striking London hotels and railway stations.
Skilled in anti-surveillance tradecraft and frequently using false identities, Barot was nevertheless by mid-June 2004 under constant watch by British security services.
After losing him from sight in late July, police swooped in early August to arrest Barot and seven other suspects, concerned that an attack could be imminent. The other seven deny involvement and are due to go on trial next year.
The court was told Barot, born in India to a Hindu family and brought to Britain as a baby, had converted to Islam at the age of 20 and become preoccupied with the need for Muslims to help oppressed Islamic peoples abroad. He later underwent militant training in Kashmir and the Philippines.
Impressed by the September 11 attacks, prosecutors said, he saw his planned British bombings as creating ''another memorable black day for the enemies of Islam''.
REUTERS AKJ RN2040
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