July 21st Bombers, The Trial

[astro3]

The Phantom 'Terror Plot' of July 21st

22 March 2007, Woolwich Crown Court: '21/7 BOMB PLOT WAS "BIGGER THAN 7/7"', screamed the headline. 'The man behind the 21/7 terror plot intended it to be "bigger and better" than 7/7, a court heard this afternoon. Muktar Said Ibrahim wanted to match the attacks on the transport system on 7 July, and also bring down a 12-storey block of flats in north London, it is alleged' - Evening Standard.

What I heard at the Court that day, as a visitor, was rather different. MSI kept repeatedly saying 'No, that's not so' to allegations from the prosecution lawyer (Mr Camlish QC, Matrix Chambers). I counted 16 wigs evident, a basically all-white court with only one Muslim, the man on trial. If this carries on for several months, it may cost the taxpayer a couple of million. The charge against the four young men is 'conspiracy to murder and conspiracy to cause explosions likely to endanger life.'

'In your twisted thoughts ...,' the prosecution witness proclaimed, and I was shocked that the judge did not object. MSI was accused of attempted murder which he categorically rejected. He stood up moderately well for one who has been in prison for a year. The central absurdity in the prosecution's case, was the claim made that hydrogen peroxide mixed with flour could bring down a block of flats in a 'ball of fire': in addition to bombs on the underground and one on a bus. I'm not clear that such a mixture would explode at all, but possibly one could get a bang out of it.

MSI had spent a while distilling the peroxide, to try and get it up to 70%. He had spent a while with electric wires trying to wire up the mixture. As to his motive, he seemed quite clear on that. As a Muslim he was horrified by the Iraq war and wanted to give British citizens some feeling of what it was like to have bombs going off. He used words such as, 'We bought many wires for the hoax ...' and 'only for demonstration,' and 'just a bang,' clearly intending no injuries. The bombs did not 'fail', he was adamant on this. They were meant to go bang without hurting anyone, he explained, and they did. They would temporarily give the impression of a bomb scare.

This court was fairly racist IMO, with no-one making an attempt to appreciate what it felt like for a young Muslim, who wanted to make Britons talk about the subject, and whose religion forbade him to take life. He stood up fairly well to the barrage of questions. Asked about July 7th, MSI categorically denied approval of the means used to protest against the Iraq war.

The climax of the day was when the prosecution lawyer brought into the Court the very sideboard where MSI had mixed the peroxide and flour. Yes, he admitted to having done it. Then a waste-bin was produced and alleged to have contained the bomb, which MSI categorically denied. Dramatically, the prosecution put the bin into the sideboard. 'But, so what?' asked MSI - quite effectively, I thought. Basically they have no evidence that he intended to do anything more than cause a disturbance, which he did.

He has been in jail before, for a couple of years, for involvement in a mugging offence. Having come from Eritreia, he went on a holiday to the Sudan in 2004, and the prosecution continually tried to imply that he was studying rocket-launch terror strikes out there, but this remained as mere innuendo. Thrice we were told of his having fondled the breasts of a young girl when he and she were both 15 and she had filed a complaint about it. He had misread her signals he explained, and had apologised. The judge kept telling us that this indicated a predisposition to use violence.

When told that he had booby-trapped a cupboard (as brought into the Court, with traces of peroxide and flour in it) to kill a colleague with whom he shared the flat, for no very evident motive, MSI denied this vehemently, saying 'As a Muslim, I'd go to hell, especially if I killed a Muslim'. For the huge expense of this court, I would have liked to have seen one or two Muslims present, who could have made some attempt to get into the mind of this 28-year old maybe confused but surely honest young man.

Everything in this day at the court confirmed what Osman Hussein (connected with the bomb at Shepherd's Bush) had earlier said (he was the one of these four who had fled to Rome right after the event): that there was only flour in the bombs and they were only intended to frighten people. MSI was responding to a barrage of questions about all aspects of his life over several hours, and his questions while being continually told he was lying or being deceptive by the Prosecution, maintained a fairly impressive integrity. This group seemed to have planned this event quite independently of the July 7th bombings.

An alleged 'fifth bomber' Manfo Asiedu connected with a rucksack 'flour-bomb' left in a park on July 21, has accused MSI of having intended to blow up the block of flats. MSI replied, that the latter had changed his story because the police had bribed him, that he would be let off if he claimed that there was a bomb in this plot, that was really intended to kill people. This was in the afternoon (I came to the Court with Steve Barker, I was only there for the morning, but he stayed for the whole day).

Conjecture by Steve Barker: MSI was the guy the police were allegedly trying to get when they shot Jean-Charles de Mendez the next day on 22nd July. To try and justify this outrage, they do need public belief that the 21/7 gang were really intending to let off real bombs, otherwise they will look silly. This analysis tends to endorse MSI's view that Asiedu has been put up to this, and will get off in return for his testimony. MSI will therefore have to be found guilty.

In afternoon, Steve Barker heard the prosecution asking why MSI did not let the bomb off on the Underground, in the tunnel. That was because, he replied, he wanted to let it off as the train pulled into the station, as the doors opened - so he could escape. There was no remote control, i.e. he had no proper detonator switch, he would have to put two wires together. The four of them were planning to escape after the blast, they were not 'suicide bombers.'

MSI was in some degree inspired by the event of 7/7 to go ahead with a plan which he already had. It was a non-lethal copycat act, but there was otherwise no direct connection between the two events. There is no evidence that the two groups had met up together.

Woolwich Crown Court is next door to Belmarsh Prison.

[Mark Gobell]

Still doesn't make any sense to me at all.

Why would anybody go to all that trouble just to let off a few pops to scare people ?

They admit that they made these "devices" as dummy bombs yet that could possibly be a cover for them not going off.

Nothing in this case makes any sense to me.

[Mark Gobell]

Sky News interrupted it's report on the Iranian seizure of British Marines this afternoon with "breaking news" that one of the 21/7 defendants is accused of collaborating with the July 7/7 perps.

So, a barrister throws around an accusation in court, an accusation that has not been made, ever, outside that court, an accusation that has in fact been consistently denied in the media yet Sky News see fit to announce said baseless accusation as "breaking news".

[astro3]

The Plot Thickens

'Who told you to say that?' MSI asked Mr Kamlish, the prosecuting counsel, on March 22nd. Kamlish had put to him, that real bombs were to be exploded in London trains, and that also a 'booby-trap bomb' had been set up in the flat they were living in. 'My client,' Kamlish replied. We were not very clear to what this alluded. However The Times the next day (23rd March) explained: Kamlish QC was counsel for Mr Asiedu - the alleged 'fifth bomber'

Plainly, Asiedu is going to get off, in return for doing this.
..................................................

Going back to their original story, Hamdi Isaac ('Osman Hussein') had caught a Eurostar to Rome after his alleged 'Shepherd's Bush bomb attack' and there stated that he and his accomplices 'had not sought to kill anyone, not even themselves. He claimed the bombs were only supposed to make a bang and were intended to sow terror.' (The London Bombings, p.96). So, after a year in solitary confinement the four lads are still telling the same story, probably the truth.

From the start the police obfuscated the nature of the bomb material, eg Sir Ian Blair stated that 'the devices, had they detonated properly, would have caused death and destruction on a level comparable to the July 7 attacks.' Note Osman stated that his back-pack bomb was composed only from 'nails, flour and a liquid hair product.' This kind of nutty chemistry probably reminds you of the Heathrow 'liquid bomb' hoax. It wouldn't even have gone bang, whereas hydrogen peroxide is liable to blow up.

Just possibly an electrical current through the flour-power bomb would have done it. I love the image of MSI fiddling around with a battery and wire on the underground, trying to blow up his flour bomb, presumably right next to him on the train (Remember that the pictures we have seen of these four, on the tube carriages and in a bus, allegedly taken by CCTV cameras, are of these lads totally alone with no-one else around).

Let's come back to the 'high strangeness' factor of what happened yesterday, 22 March, and is reported in the papers today. This QC Matrix Chambers prosecution council with a wig avers that MSI had concocted a fiendish plot, that would lead to 'one block of flats, a tower going up in a ball of flames' - to quote from The Times. No-one laughed. This was not done by sticks of dynamite attached to the stairway, but by chapati flour in some cupboard - brought into the courtroom, as proof .... No really, I would not have believed it, had I not personally been there.

On the front of The Times was a big '7/7 suspects Held' headline to make the link in everyone's mind. All the evidence here presented tends to endorse the analysis made by Nafeez Ahmed in his book, that 'It is difficult to avoid the conclusion, in this context, that Osman's claims about the bombs are plausible.' (p.99)

[paul wright]

Just the point I was trying to make here
Laughable if you didn't have concerns that the jury might just be taken in by this nonsense

[Mark Gobell]

Theatre. Pure theatre.

[astro3]

Mark, tell me if this makes sense. Have I finally got the picture?

On July 7th, there were four real bombs - but no terrorists. There was no evidence of the four Muslim lads being in London on that day, no pictures or testimonies. On July 21st, there were four real 'terrorists' ie, young Muslims who wanted to scare Londoners - but no bombs. These two images had to fuse together in people's minds, to create a single, credible image of Muslim terrorists with bombs. It worked like a charm. Everyone, except for a few nutty, weirdo conspiracy-theorists, now believes it.

This theory can even explain why De Mendez was shot on the 22nd. He was shot because he allegedly looked like the July 21 'ringleader.' Once that had happened, the police were no longer at liberty to tell the truth about 21/7, or there was no risk that they would try to do so - viz. that the flour bombs would have been a rather dusty experience, but would soon brush off.

In the day of the trial I attended, the discussion was of electrical apparatus, as in batteries and wires - not electronic. Nothing like a time-delay or remote switch. This discussion was mainly concerned with an alleged booby-trap that (according to the turncoat testimony of Asiedu), MSI had allegedly rigged up in their flat. MSI did agree that he had spent some time fiddling about with wires and batteries. Now, you don't need a degree in chemistry to figure out, that a five-volt battery connected to wires might possibly get a bang out of 70% peroxide soaked into flour.

Or, maybe not. Have we any evidence that bangs did go off on London Transport that noon? Re-checking the photos of those four confused lads, alone with no-one else around, did they have flour on their faces? Nope. Er, was there flour on the seats? Nope. Could these pictures be before the bombs had gone off? To answer these pressing questions, let's turn to Nafeez Ahmed's trusty guide.

'The bombs failed to detonate' (page 98, The London Bombings) is stated rather quietly. I suggest we just accept that - unless this Court now sitting provides evidence that they did go off. Two years ago, an 'Italian judges panel' authorised the extradition of Hussein Osman (one of the 21/7 team) to the UK, and it made this comment upon his 'bomb'. Its home-brewed mixture was

[numeral]

The description of the device given in court was:
battery, wires, bulb-holder, bulb, sheet of paper, TATP, flour/hydrogen peroxide dough.
The bulb had a hole made in it. A piece of TATP was put in the hole. The paper was rolled up and more TATP was put inside it with the bulb at one end. This assembly was put inside the dough. The battery was wired in. To set off touch the ends of the wires together.

[astro3]

There was no murder weapon. That, surely, is clear by now.

[Sinclair]

[Sinclair]

[astro3]

Hi Sinclair,
Yes, to get to the Court, take a train from London Bridge to Plumstead, and bring some ID, passport or driving license. Its a FREE SHOW and it's going on for another month, get there 10 am for start at 10.15. Get frisked by guys with big guns!

Asiedu did not speak. I seem to recall that he was sitting away from the others, but can't be sure - the papers next day said that he was. I've no idea what he understood of the proceedings.

I hope our group can put out a Press Release on this matter, as we understand the framework within which it has taken place (well, more or less...). Steve 'Barker' contributes now and then to this forum, and turns up at meetings now and then.

[Sinclair]

astro,

many thanks for your responses.

I am a bit far from the court, but I would encourage anyone closer to the courtroom to attend & hear the proceedings & report back here.

For anyone interested, news reports & some analysis of J21 stuff is on the J7Truth campaign website HERE

[astro3]

Our London group wasn't keen on putting out a press release, viewing it as not pertinent enough to 9/11. But while this trial is in progress there is quite an opportunity, it seems to me - if someone else wanted to get a story from this trial and see whether they concurred with the above.

On January 15th, Prosecuting attorney Mr Sweeney averred:

[TonyGosling]

What were the reasons for not putting out a press release or holding a press conference?

You must - remember - be aware of the provisions of the Contempt of Court Act which - in effect - says you must report any new facts or new evidence in a balanced way if the case is active as this one is - ie explaining that any new evidence does not mean a jury should deliver a particular outcome. You must adequately explore the possibility that the evidence is faulty or false as well as true.

[Barker]

I went down to Woolwich crown court with Astro3 to view the trial of the so called 21/7 bombers. I am not personally interested in putting out a press release, anyhow the court was packed with journalists. The big news on the day we went down there was that Manfo Asiedu had turned Queens evidence, presumably to get himself a lighter sentence and the other bombers convicted. To get into court 3 where the trial is being heard you need photographic identity, a passport or driving licence with a photo would be best. I happened to have a concessionary bus pass with a photo on it, but Astro3 had identification issued by a London university which helped a lot.

Woolwich crown court adjoins Belmarsh Prison, which is a huge complex It is high security prison and terrorist suspects are held there. There is an underground passage from the prison to the courthouse. In this way the suspects can be put on trial without ever really leaving the prison. the court is a new building. There are two points at which the ID is checked. When you first enter the building and then again the doorway into court three. Both points are protected by security guards armed with machine guns. At both points you have to display ID and pass through a metal detector, At the second point mobile phones have to be handed in.

In the court, the public gallery is on a high level looking down on the proceedings. On the left is the judges bench. Immediately opposite is the witness box with seats the press behind that. The jury are not visible from the pubic gallery as they were seated immediately underneath it. There is glass between the the public gallery and the court , but microphones in the ceiling made it possible to hear the proceedings [just]. There were about twenty barristers and clerks in the main area of the court, all with laptops. Behind them was another glass wall behind which sat the defendants. Behind them was a line of prison guards. On the day we were there Ibrahim was in the witness box being cross examined by Mr Camlish QC

Ibrahim was the 'leader' of the group. He seemed intelligent and confident. He came from Eritreyea and was a recent convert to Islam. He repeatedly said that it was not intended to kill anybody, the whole thing was a protest, a 'hoax' to draw attention to what was happening to Muslims in the Middle East.

I assume that the special unit that killed Menenes was supposed to kill Ibrahim, when they killed Menezes by mistake. Had they got Ibrahim whole trial would have been more straight forward - "Dangerous leader of suicide gang killed by police!"

Is there a connection between 7/7 and 21/7? This did not become clear. Before the attack Ibrahim had been to Sudan to visit relatives and had also gone to Pakistan. He denied visiting any training camps or having met any of the 7/7 suspects. He claimed that he got the information for making the explosive and the detonator off a website called 'balaclava.mac' .

Mr Camlish claimed the the explosive used in 21/7, hydrogen peroxide and flour was the same as was used in 7/7. This was strange because press reports about the 7/7 explosive have only described it as made from common ingredients and extremely volatile. This trial is going to go on for a long time. I pity any jurors who will be committed for several months. At the end of it all they will probably find all the defendants guilty out of pure exhaustion!

Barker

[Barker]

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