Terror video Mastermind Faces US treason Charges Whilst Briton Admits Bomb plot Against NY Exchange

Terror video Mastermind Faces US treason Charges
Extracted from the Times, UK – by Catherine Philp (12.10.06)

THE California-born son of a failed rock musician who converted to Islam and became the mastermind of al-Qaeda’s video propaganda unit has became the first American to be charged with treason since the Second World War.

Adam Yahiye Gadahn, 28, was indicted by a grand jury yesterday on federal charges of treason and aiding terrorists, which carry a maximum penalty of death.

The charges follow a two-year investigation that began when Mr Gadahn’s former imam in California recognised him as the speaker in an alQaeda video released close to the presidential election, threatening an attack on America that would make the “streets run with blood”.

Mr Gadahn, however, who is known in the videos by his nom de guerre, Azzam the American, is not in American custody and is believed to be overseas, most likely in Pakistan, where the al-Qaeda video production unit, al-Sahab, is based.

Mr Gadahn’s journey from Californian schoolboy to video jihadi is an extraordinary one. He was born Adam Perlman, the home-schooled son of a psychedelic musician brought up on a goat farm with no running water or electricity. In his teenage years, however, he began rebelling against his Christian upbringing and developed a love for heavy metal music and exploring alternative religions.

Intrigued by Islam he began attending a mosque in Orange County, offering his services as a live-in caretaker. He befriended a small group of young Muslim immigrants from Pakistan and joined in attacks on less orthodox worshippers.

He began calling himself Adam Yahiye Gadahn and was arrested for beating up an imam and expelled from the mosque. In 1998 he fled his family home south of Los Angeles and travelled to an al- Qaeda training camp in Afghanistan, three years before the September 11 attacks.
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Briton admits bomb plot against NY exchange
Taken from Yahoo News, By Michael Holden (12.10.06)

A Briton arrested amid a massive U.S. security alert two years ago admitted in a London court on Thursday to plotting to blow up financial targets in the United States and carry out "dirty bomb" attacks in Britain.

Dhiren Barot, a Muslim convert, admitted to plotting to blow up the headquarters of the New York Stock Exchange, International Monetary Fund, World Bank, Citigroup and Prudential in Washington, New Jersey and New York.

"Explosions at these premises were clearly designed to kill as many people as possible," said prosecuting lawyer Edmund Lawson.

Amid tight security at Woolwich Crown Court in South London, Barot pleaded guilty to conspiracy to murder and prosecutors outlined the details of his confession. Barot, looking relaxed and typing on a lap-top, spoke only to affirm his guilt.

Apart from the U.S. plot, he planned to hit British targets in a conspiracy called the "Gas Limos Project," which "involved parking three limos with gas cylinders with explosives and detonating them in underground car parks," Lawson said.

And he admitted another plan to detonate at least one "dirty bomb" contaminated with radiological material in Britain. The prosecution said Barot claimed the dirty bomb was not designed to kill but "rather to cause injury, fear, terror and chaos."

Under Britain's tight media laws, the judge ordered that further details of the conspiracy not be reported to prevent prejudicing the trials of any future defendants.

The plans did not seem to have reached an advanced stage. The prosecution said it accepted Barot's assertion that no funding, vehicles or bomb making equipment had been in place.

"We are happy to confirm that because it's a true statement of fact," said Lawson.

Massive Alert
Barot was arrested by British police in August 2004 after a massive security alert in the United States.

The U.S. Homeland Security Advisory level was raised to "high," police with assault rifles were posted at possible targets, barricades were erected and traffic into Manhattan via bridges and tunnels were restricted.

The very public U.S. response to the case in 2004 - just weeks before a presidential election - attracted criticism.

Because three years had passed since Barot had visited his potential targets, and he was under tight British surveillance at the time, some Democrats accused the Republican-led administration of overstating the immediacy of the threat.

"I am concerned that every time something happens that's not good for President Bush, he plays this trump card, which is terrorism,” Howard Dean, now chairman of the Democratic Party, said at the time.

U.S. media and security experts also expressed concern at the time that the high profile U.S. public response may have hurt investigations by exposing the identity of source who helped track down Barot.

U.S. officials said in 2004 that they believed the plot was at an advanced stage, an assertion apparently contradicted by the British prosecutors on Thursday.