TERRORISM TRIAL: Alleged plot leader insists he is not an extremist

4:18pm Monday 2nd June 2008

THE ALLEGED leader of a terrorist plot to blow up transatlantic airliners would not describe himself as an extremist, a court heard.

However Abdullah Ahmed Ali, of Prospect Hill, Walthamstow, admitted he became politically aware at a young age.

Giving evidence at Woolwich Crown Court for the first time, Mr Ali, 27, said he became politically active at university and regularly joined demonstrations.

He added that the mass demonstration against the Iraq war in 2003 had shown him that "people are all the same", with similar beliefs and morals.

When asked by his barrister whether he would describe himself as an extremist, Mr Ali replied: "No, I would not."

The jury was told that in January 2003, he and two other defendants, Umar Islam and Assad Sarwar, visited a refugee camp in Pakistan on an aid mission.

Mr Ali explained that the conditions in the camp was shocking, with many seriously wounded and people dying daily.

He said: "I felt emotions that I had not felt before. Initially it made me cry quite a lot, when I was by myself.

"I do not know if I can explain it to you. I do not know if you have ever seen somebody die, how that makes you feel.

"Multiply that and the suffering you are going through and the environment you are in. It is very sad, very sad."

He added that some were unwilling to accept his help because they blamed Britain for their suffering.

The court was previously shown a video of Mr Ali, in which he promised to teach the West a "lesson they will never forget".

Mr Ali is among eight men who are accused of conspiring to destroy at least seven passenger planes with homemade explosives disguised as soft drinks.

Also on trial are Arafat Waheed Khan, 26, of Farnan Avenue, Walthamstow; Waheed Zaman, 23, of Queen's Road, Walthamstow; Ibrahim Savant, 27, of Folkestone Road, Walthamstow; and Tanvir Hussain, of Nottingham Road, Leyton.

Also accused are Assad Sarwar, 24, and Umar Islam, aka Brian Young, 29, both of High Wycombe, and Mohammed Gulzar, 26, of Barking.

They all deny the charges.

The trial continues.