LONDON (AFP) — The ringleader of a gang accused of plotting to blow up transatlantic jets with liquid explosives told a court Monday he planned to set off a device at the parliament as a "stunt."
Abdulla Ahmed Ali, 27, said the plan to target the Houses of Parliament was designed as a political protest in opposition to the government's foreign policy after the "totally illegal and criminal" wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
He and his co-conspirators settled on parliament after considering a number of targets, including oil refineries, power stations and the electricity grid, as well as London's central business district and the Bank of England.
Footage of the blast would be combined with Internet footage and martyrdom videos found after his arrest over the alleged airline plot in mid-2006 to make an anti-government documentary for publicity purposes, he added.
The court had previously been shown a 16-minute video in which Ali threatens to teach the West "a "lesson they will never forget" and to punish and humiliate non-Muslims.
"We did not want to kill or injure anyone," he told the court Monday.
"Something small enough to cause a large bang, maybe some smoke. Something that would be considered serious and credible, something to generate that mass media attention."
He added: "I never had any intention of murdering anyone or injuring anyone. At no stage did I ever even think of going on an airplane or causing an explosion there."
Ali, also known as Ahmed Ali Khan is on trial with seven other men accused of conspiring to explode home-made bombs on board flights bound for north America. They all deny the charges.
He told the jury he and two of his co-accused had been deeply affected by a trip to Pakistan with an Islamic charity to help refugees from fighting in Afghanistan.
They said they realised that charity work could only achieve so much and wanted governments to reconsider their foreign policies.
A bomb blast -- "just something enough to cause general concern" -- would be the best way to do that, he said.
"People only get involved when it affects them or their own personal interests," he added. "Another reason was we thought if we make a documentary how are we going to get everyone to see it and know about it?
"That is when we thought we would do a publicity stunt. This would generate publicity. It is nothing to do with Islamic fundamentalism or radical Islam. It is purely down to foreign policy."
Instructions on how to make the liquid bombs were downloaded from the Internet, Ali said, and they thought they would be able to smuggle them past security at Westminster.
Ali, from northeast London, said he did not believe in suicide bombing and that he was not an Islamist extremist.
"Killing, taking an innocent life is (forbidden), wrong in any way shape or form," he added.
Copyright © 2009 AFP. All rights reserved. More »
