CNN.com Cleric wanted info from BA employee to blow up planes, prosecutors say
London (CNN) -- Muslim cleric Anwar al-Awlaki tried get information from a British Airways worker for use in a plot to blow up planes, preferably in the United States, prosecutors in London said Tuesday at the trial of the BA employee. Rajib Karim, 31, exchanged e-mails with the militant cleric -- who's believed to have close ties with al Qaeda -- in which al-Awlaki asked him for "limitations and cracks in present airport security systems" with an eye to targeting the United States, prosecutors said. "Our highest priority is the United States," said al-Awlaki, who was born in the United States and is thought to be hiding in Yemen. "Anything there, even on a smaller scale compared to what we may do in the United Kingdom, would be our choice." Karim, who was arrested last year, admits offering himself for terrorist operations, making a jihadi recruitment video, and fundraising for terrorism, but denies knowing that information he gave al-Awlaki would be used for terrorism. Prosecutors said he passed on information that would have been useful for terrorists plotting to blow up a plane and also information that could have been used to help plan a "disruptive" cyber attack on British Airways. They described him Tuesday as "entirely committed to an extreme jihadist and religious cause." Karim sat confidently in court, largely impassive, wearing a white t-shirt, gray-green v-neck sweater and a winter jacket. His hair was short and his beard was neatly trimmed. Karim, an information technology developer for the airline, was arrested in February 2010. He exchanged e-mails with Awlaki in late 2009 and early 2010, telling the radical he worked for British Airways, prosecutor Jonathan Laidlaw said Tuesday. Awlaki was interested, he added. Karim, who was born in Bangladesh and is now a British citizen, had been in the UK three years at that point, the prosecutor said. He got the job at BA intending to gather information to help commit an act of terrorism, Laidlaw said. Karim's brother went to Yemen to make contact with Awlaki for him, the prosecutor also alleged. Authorities said last year that that Karim collected money in Britain and sent it to Yemen and Bangladesh to fund terrorist activities. British authorities believe he had significant success in financing terrorist operations, security sources with knowledge of the case told CNN after he was arrested. He volunteered to recruit suicide bombers and to be one himself, prosecutors said in a pre-trial hearing last year. He said he would go to Yemen or Pakistan for training, they charged. At the hearing in March last year, prosecutor Colin Gibb called Karim "a very dangerous individual, facing very serious offenses and likely to face a serious term of imprisonment." The alleged offenses took place between April 13, 2006, and February 25, 2010, "with the intention of committing acts of terrorism outside the U.K. or assisting another to commit such acts," police said. Police learned about Karim's alleged activities from encrypted data on his computer at home, which was seized when he was arrested. He used his position at British Airways to advise foreign terrorists on airport security measures, including suspicion scans, liquid allowances and computer systems, prosecutors alleged. He is also accused of offering to take advantage of a strike last year by British Airways cabin crews. Prosecutors believe he advised his contacts that because of the industrial disputes, he might have the opportunity to apply to join a cabin crew, giving him information on cabin crew training and on-the-job activity. BA shuffled some staff to cover cabin crew positions left vacant by the strike. CNN's Andrew Carey contributed to this report. Links referenced within this article Find this article at: http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/europe/02/01/uk.terror.trial/index.html?hpt=T2 Click Here to Print SAVE THIS | EMAIL THIS | Close Uncheck the box to remove the list of links referenced in the article. © 2008 Cable News Network. ------------------------------------ Post message: [email protected] Subscribe : [email protected] Unsubscribe : [email protected] List owner : [email protected] Homepage : http://proletar.8m.com/Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/proletar/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/proletar/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: [email protected] [email protected] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [email protected] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
