New video shows ringleader saying goodbye to daughter.

Islam,Terrorism and Jihad

01 May 2009, NewAgeIslam.Com

7/7 Trial: Insight into Lives of Islamist Suicide Bombers in UK

New video shows ringleader saying goodbye to daughter.   From home videos of the ringleader, Mohammad Sidique Khan, cooing over his baby daughter to the "to-do lists" written by the bombers in their final days, the trial of Waheed Ali, Sadeer Saleem and Mohammed Shakil offered a new insight into the preparations for the July 7 attacks, and the four men who would go on to carry out the suicide bombings that killed 52.   The police believe the bombers were schooled by the al-Qaeda operatives when they travelled to Pakistan. Khan twice attended training camps there and went a final time with Aldgate bomber Shehzad Tanweer in late 2004. It was on this trip that authorities believe their plans changed from fighting overseas to an attack in the U.K.   The trial also revealed:  Previously unseen footage that showed Khan, who would go on to kill six people near Edgware Road, tenderly saying goodbye to his six-month-old daughter before going to Pakistan. Cradling the child in his arms he tells her that he is going away "for the sake of Islam." -- Rachel Williams URL of this page: http://www.newageislam.org/NewAgeIslamArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=1370 --------------------------     7/7 Trial: Insight into Lives of Islamist Suicide Bombers in UK   Rachel Williams   New video shows ringleader saying goodbye to daughter.   From home videos of the ringleader, Mohammad Sidique Khan, cooing over his baby daughter to the "to-do lists" written by the bombers in their final days, the trial of Waheed Ali, Sadeer Saleem and Mohammed Shakil offered a new insight into the preparations for the July 7 attacks, and the four men who would go on to carry out the suicide bombings that killed 52.   The police believe the bombers were schooled by the al-Qaeda operatives when they travelled to Pakistan. Khan twice attended training camps there and went a final time with Aldgate bomber Shehzad Tanweer in late 2004. It was on this trip that authorities believe their plans changed from fighting overseas to an attack in the U.K.   Ali claimed Khan and Tanweer came to him in Pakistan to tell him they were heading back home "to do a couple of things for the brothers."   The trial also revealed:   — Previously unseen footage that showed Khan, who would go on to kill six people near Edgware Road, tenderly saying goodbye to his six-month-old daughter before going to Pakistan. Cradling the child in his arms he tells her that he is going away "for the sake of Islam."   — How the bombers may have deliberately dropped ID and bank cards some distance from where they sat before they detonated their devices, so the documents would survive and they could be easily identified as the perpetrators and "get credit" for what they had done.   — Details, for the first time, of a second bomb factory — a bedsit (one-room flat) above a shop in Chapeltown, Leeds — where investigators believe the four carried out preparatory work in spring 2005. Traces of explosives were found there and CCTV footage captured all four entering the building. Unique design   The prosecution's forensic scientist said the unique design of the rucksack bombs that would kill 52 people meant their carriers almost certainly had help to make them. The jury saw the first pictures of the main bomb factory, at Alexandra Grove in Leeds, and heard descriptions of the chemical residues, bulbs, wires, batteries and traces of high explosives found scattered in disarray around the flat.   The bombers' to-do lists, found at the Alexandra Grove bomb factory, included a "plan for the day," thought to have been penned by bus bomber Hasib Hussain. It had just four elements: "Rehersal [sic]. If confronted: deal with it. Pop it if overheats on thing. Organise times!"   A longer list, scrawled by Tanweer, reminded the bombers to memorise prayers. A charred note showing timings of journeys on the underground was recovered from the wreckage of the Russell Square bomb.   Previously unseen CCTV pictures followed an anxious Hussain after his bomb failed to explode on the underground, rooting around in his bag on the concourse at King's Cross. By the time he boarded a number 91 bus, sweat was pouring down his face and his lips were dry and cracked, according to a fellow passenger. The footage of Khan with his daughter was shot two days before he flew to Pakistan in November 2004. The prosecution said it was clear he did not expect to see her again, although in fact he was to return to the U.K. to mastermind the bombings.   "I just wish I could have been part of your life, especially these growing up — these next months, they're really special with you learning to walk and things," he says. "But I have to do this thing for our future and it will be for the best, inshallah, in the long run." He adds: "Be strong, learn to fight — fighting is good." In another clip, shot the month before, he is seen introducing his daughter to her "uncles" — Tanweer, Hussain and Ali.   Detectives based in Yorkshire learned that Ilkley Moor was used as a fitness training ground by young would-be terrorists. Among those spotted running and rock climbing there was Khan. Eyewitnesses are understood to have told detectives that he would frequently be seen there, often with younger men. Usually they would run to the Cow and Calf, an outcrop of rocks at the top of the moor, where they could then be seen hugging. Another side   The court heard of another side to Khan's character. Mohammed Shakil told how when the pair became friends in their early 20s, Khan — or Sid, as he was known — was "not a good practising Muslim" and the pair would drink alcohol and smoke cannabis together. The court also heard that during the trip which the prosecution alleged was for reconnaissance to London, Piccadilly line bomber Germaine Lindsay stole the wallets of two men staying in their hostel because he was angry that they were smoking cannabis.   Tanweer, according to Ali, was a more gentle character who had been so religious as a teenager — praying five times a day and growing his beard at 14 or 15 — that other children gave him the nickname "Pious." He "looked after" Ali, and the pair played cricket together in the park the night before the bombings. Tanweer's hair and eyebrows had changed colour — bleached by the chemicals in the bomb factory. — © Guardian Newspapers Limited, 2009 URL of this page: http://www.newageislam.org/NewAgeIslamArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=1370