Jail for Terror Plan to 'kill Many'

A London dentist detained as he boarded a plane to Pakistan carrying night sights and computer discs full of military information was jailed yesterday for four and a half years.

Sohail Qureshi had admitted he was on his way to carry out a terrorist mission and told fellow extremists he planned to "kill many", the Old Bailey heard. Scotland Yard's anti-terror chief yesterday suggested Qureshi may have been planning to target British soldiers in Afghanistan.

Qureshi, 30, of Forest Gate, east London, had been in email contact with Samina Malik, the so-called "lyrical terrorist", who worked airside at WH Smith at Heathrow, to inquire about security at the airport. Malik, who wrote poems glorifying martyrdom and the beheading of unbelievers, was given a suspended prison sentence in December after being found guilty of storing material likely to be of use for terrorism.

Jonathan Sharp, prosecuting, said Qureshi was carrying £9,000 in cash, medical supplies, night sights and a computer disc containing the Poisoner's Handbook when stopped in October 2006. He carried a picture of himself holding an M16 rifle.

A message written by him and found by police on an extremist website declared: "Pray that I kill many, brother. Revenge, revenge, revenge."

"Sohail Qureshi is a dedicated supporter of Islamist extremism," Sharp told the court.

Qureshi pleaded guilty to preparing for terrorism, an offense under the Terrorism Act 2006. It is the first time anyone has been convicted of the charge. He also pleaded guilty to possessing an article for a terrorist purpose and possessing a record likely to be useful in terrorism.

Scotland Yard's anti-terror chief, Assistant Commissioner Peter Clarke, said afterwards: "Qureshi is a trained and committed terrorist, who by his own admission has had contacts within al-Qaida since the mid-1990s. Although we do not know what his exact plans were it is likely that coalition forces, possibly in Afghanistan, were his intended target."

The police released his farewell message, in which he wrote: "If I am to become a shaheed [martyr], then cry not and celebrate that day as if you celebrate a happy occasion."