Man planned to bomb Manchester, court hears

A PAKISTANI man planned to bomb Manchester city centre as part of a wider al-Qaida plot to carry out attacks in Britain, the US and Norway, a London court was told yesterday.

Abid Naseer, 24, who was arrested in a British anti-terrorism operation last year but never charged, faces extradition to the US on allegations that he provided material support to al-Qaida and conspired to use a destructive device.

London’s City of Westminster Court heard Naseer was suspected of being part of a cell plotting an attack in Manchester, possibly on its main shopping centre.

“The allegation is that the defendant was an al-Qaida operative who participated in a conspiracy to attack Western interests by the use of explosive devices,” said lawyer David Perry, representing US authorities.

Perry said Naseer had been involved in a cell which had been planning to bomb Manchester between April 15 and 20, 2009.

He was one of 12 men, mostly students from Pakistan, whom police arrested in a major swoop on April 8 last year, hours after Britain’s most senior counter-terrorism officer was photographed openly carrying details about the operation.

All the men were later released and they were ordered to be deported.

However, Naseer won an appeal against his deportation to Pakistan in May because of fears he would be mistreated if he were sent home.

The Special Immigration Appeal Commission, which deals with such cases, said it believed he posed a security threat and ideally should be removed from Britain.