Five charged over kidnap attempt on Muslim British soldier

A MAN appeared in a London court yesterday charged with planning to kidnap and kill a member of the armed forces in a plot apparently aimed at Muslims who had served with British troops in Iraq or Afghanistan.

Parviz Khan, 36, was accused of “engaging in conduct to give effect to his intention to kidnap and kill a member of the armed forces”.

He was one of five to appear at Westminster Magistrates Court in central London charged with various terrorism-related offences.

The men, who were driven to London in a police convoy, were accompanied by seven security guards as they entered the glass-enclosed defendants’ box.

Media reports have said the plan was to copy tactics used by militants in Iraq by video-taping the killing and posting it on the internet.

Khan was also charged with intending to supply equipment to others for use in acts of terrorism and with entering into a funding arrangement that could be used for terrorism.

Four other men — Mohammed Irfan, 30, Zahoor Iqbal, 29, Hamid Elasmar, 43, and Amjad Mahmood, 31 — were similarly charged.

Mahmood was further accused of failing to disclose information that could prevent an act of terrorism.

The five men were remanded in custody until a further hearing on February 23. Irfan and Iqbal were refused bail while the other three defendants did not seek bail.

The five were among nine suspects arrested by police in dawn raids in the central city of Birmingham last week. Three have been released without charge while the ninth is still being questioned.

“It is vital that we do not fail to acknowledge the stark reality of what was being planned in our midst,” said David Shaw, assistant chief constable of West Midlands Police.

Shaw told reporters that 4,500 items, including computers, phones and documents from homes and businesses had been seized in Birmingham, Britain’s second-largest city and one of its most ethnically diverse.

Britain has been on its second-highest alert level since four British Muslims killed 52 people in July’s 2005 London bombings.

The Birmingham arrests aroused scepticism in the local Islamic community because of previous blunders in high-profile security operations.