Five in court over UK bomb plot

Five men arrested in a series of anti-terror raids are appearing in court tomorrow, charged in connection with a suspected bomb plot.

Five men arrested in a series of anti-terror raids in the UK are appearing in court tomorrow, charged in connection with a suspected bomb plot.

Two other men, also arrested during the raids, were released on bail last night pending further inquiries.

More than 700 police officers were involved in last week’s operation, when half a ton of ammonium nitrate fertiliser was seized from a west London self-storage unit.

Four of the men were charged with conspiracy to cause an explosion likely to endanger life or injure property under the Explosives Substance Act 1883.

They include Anthony Garcia, 21, of Ilford, Essex; 20-year-old Jawad Akbar from Crawley, West Sussex; Omar Khyam, 22, of Crawley and 32-year-old Waheed Mahmoud, also from Crawley.

The men are alleged to have “unlawfully and maliciously” conspired – with a 17-year-old youth who has already appeared in court – to cause an explosion between October 1, 2003, and March 31 this year.

Three men – Garcia, Khyam, and Nabeel Hussain, 18, from Horley, Surrey – were charged under the 2000 Terrorism Act with possession of an article for purposes of terrorism.

The trio were charged with possession of 600kg of ammonium nitrate fertiliser between November 11, 2003, and March 31, which they are alleged to have kept at Access Self Storage Ltd in Boston Road, Hanwell, west London.

They are accused of possessing the fertiliser “in circumstances which gave rise to reasonable suspicion that your possession was for a purpose connected with the commission, preparation or instigation of an act of terrorism”.

All five men are due to appear at Belmarsh Magistrates Court, south-east London tomorrow.

A total of eight men were arrested last Tuesday. A ninth man arrested last Thursday was released on bail two days ago.

Nadeem Ashraf, 27, was de-arrested under the Terrorism Act and rearrested in connection with alleged deception offences under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act.

Ashraf, believed to be a teacher of Pakistani descent, was released on police bail to return to a London police station in July.

Last night, a 21-year-old man was de-arrested under the Terrorism Act and arrested under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act in connection with alleged forgery and theft offences.

Another man, aged 19, was also de-arrested under the Terrorism Act last night and arrested under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act in connection with alleged theft and deception offences.

Both men have been bailed to a date in July.

The final suspect – an unnamed 17-year-old also arrested last Tuesday - appeared in court two days ago, charged under Section Three of the Explosive Substances Act 1883.

The teenager, from Sussex, was remanded in custody until April 14 following a 30-minute hearing at Bow Street Magistrates Court in London.

The charge was put to him that: “Between October 1, 2003, and March 31, 2004, within the jurisdiction of the Central Criminal Court you unlawfully and maliciously conspired with others to cause, by an explosive substance, an explosion of a nature likely to endanger life or cause serious damage to property.”