Mohammad Sidique Khan
Mohammad Sidique Khan محمد صدیق خان | |
---|---|
Suicide bombing | |
Alma mater | Leeds Metropolitan University |
Spouse | Hasina Patel |
Mohammad Sidique Khan (
On 1 September 2005, a videotape emerged featuring Khan. The videotape, shown by Al Jazeera Television, also shows Ayman al-Zawahiri, who was the highest leader of al-Qaeda. The two men do not appear together, and the British government says that al-Qaeda was not connected with the bombing. The Home Office believes the tape was edited after the suicide attacks and dismisses it as evidence of al-Qaeda's involvement.[2] In the film, Khan declares, "I and thousands like me have forsaken everything for what we believe" and refers to his expectation that the media would already have painted a picture of him in accordance with government "spin". He goes on to say, "Your democratically elected governments continually perpetrate atrocities against my people all over the world. Your support makes you directly responsible. We are at war and I am a soldier. Now you too will taste the reality of this situation."
Biography
Born in
In 1999, he came under the influence of radical cleric Abdullah el-Faisal.[5]
Khan worked at Hillside
Khan was also involved in the community-run Hamara Healthy Living Centre in Beeston, and worked at its youth outreach project, the Hamara Youth Access Point (HYAP). Staff at the centre have confirmed that two of the London bombers, Shehzad Tanweer and Hasib Hussain, frequented the HYAP. Khan used the outreach project as a recruitment centre, according to a friend of his who spoke to The Guardian.[3]
His
Mohammad Sidique Khan postponed the event from 6 July 2005 because he had to take his pregnant wife to the hospital.[8]
London bombings
2005 London bombings |
---|
On the morning of 7 July 2005, Khan travelled by car with his three accomplices to Luton in Bedfordshire, where the four men caught a train to London King's Cross railway station.
From there, Khan entered the London Underground and boarded a Circle Line train heading west, travelling four stops to Edgware Road. The bomb detonated at 8.50 a.m., just as the train was pulling out of Edgware Road station, killing six victims that were also British.[9] Personal documents of Khan's were found on the train.
Intelligence assessments
Khan is alleged to have travelled regularly to
According to the Israeli newspaper Maariv, Khan travelled to Israel on 19 February 2003, staying only one night and leaving the next day. Maariv reports that he was suspected of having helped to plan the 30 April 2003 suicide bombing of the Mike's Place bar in Tel Aviv which killed three Israelis, carried out by two British citizens. The Israeli government allegedly played down the report.[12]
According to
British intelligence sources and circumstantial evidence[13] suggested that this theory may have resulted from a confusion between two different Mohammed Khans, although it seems that Suskind stood by his claim.
According to David Leppard in The Sunday Times, Khan was assessed by MI5 in 2004, after his name appeared during an investigation into a plan to detonate a 600-lb truck bomb in London. MI5 concluded that Khan's link to the plotters was indirect, and he was not placed under surveillance.[14] MI5 was later criticised for failing to follow up leads relating to Khan.[15] The service responded to the criticisms.[16] Channel 4 News published what it said were excerpts from the transcript of the tape.[17]
US intelligence officials have said that Khan was known to
On 18 July 2005, the Pakistani government released video footage of Khan arriving at Dubai airport on 19 November 2004 with Shehzad Tanweer, another of the London bombers. Khan and Tanweer stayed in Pakistan until 8 February 2005, then flew back to London together. A third member of the London group, 18-year-old Hasib Hussain, arrived in Karachi on 15 July 2004 from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on flight SV714.[18]
See also
- Shehzad Tanweer, Aldgate train
- Hasib Hussain, No. 30 bus
- Germaine Lindsay, Russell Square train
References
- ^ "Profile: Mohammad Sidique Khan". 30 April 2007 – via news.bbc.co.uk.
- ^ Townsend, Mark (9 April 2006). "Leak reveals official story of London bombings". The Observer. Retrieved 11 April 2009.
- ^ a b c d e Laville, Sandra; Gillan, Audrey; Aslam, Dilpazier (15 July 2005). "'Father figure' inspired young bombers". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 March 2007.
- ^ "My Brother the Bomber". Prospect Magazine. 30 June 2007. Retrieved 16 August 2016.
- ISBN 978-0-8147-3696-8. Retrieved 9 January 2010.
- ^ McGrory, Daniel; Evans, Michael; Kennedy, Dominic (14 July 2005). "Killer in the classroom". The Times. Archived from the original on 2 December 2008. Retrieved 12 April 2009.
- Yorkshire Post. 10 May 2007. Retrieved 12 April 2009.
- Independent.co.uk. 23 October 2011.
- ^ "7 July London bombings: The victims". BBC News. 3 July 2015.
- ^
"The jihadi house parties of hate: Britain's terror network offered an easy target the security services missed, says Shiv Malik". The Times. 6 May 2007. Archived from the original on 29 June 2011. Retrieved 2 August 2010.
Within weeks two of the most dangerous British-born jihadi terrorists — Mohammad Sidique Khan, leader of the 7/7 suicide bombers, and Omar Khyam, leader of the so-called Crevice gang — were learning to make bombs at Malakand.
- ^ Munro, Ian (27 October 2005). "London bomb link to Bali mastermind". The Age. Retrieved 12 April 2009.
- ^ Williams, Dan (18 July 2005). "London bomber visited Israel - Israeli official". Reuters. Archived from the original on 21 July 2005.
- ^ Johnston, Philip (22 June 2006). "Case of two terrorist Khans opens can of worms". The Daily Telegraph.
- ^ a b Leppard, David (17 July 2005). "MI5 judged bomber 'no threat'". The Times. Archived from the original on 10 February 2008. Retrieved 12 April 2009.
- ^ Leppard, David; Woods, Richard (14 May 2006). "Spies 'hid' bomber tape from MPs". The Times. Archived from the original on 11 May 2008. Retrieved 21 November 2007.
- ^ "Links between the 7 July bombers and the fertiliser plotters". MI5. Archived from the original on 14 August 2007. Retrieved 12 April 2009.
- ^ Israel, Simon. "7/7 an intelligence failure?". Channel 4 News. Retrieved 4 December 2007.
- ^ Harding, Luke; Cowan, Rosie (19 July 2005). "Pakistan militants linked to London attacks". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 March 2007.
External links
- London bombers tied to Al Qaeda plot in Pakistan, by Brian Ross, ABC News, 14 July 2005
- "Mentor to the young and vulnerable", by Sandra Laville and Dilpazier Aslam, The Guardian, 14 July 2005
- "London bomber video aired on TV", BBC News, last updated 2 September 2005, 8:29 GMT ( with a short excerpt from the video )
- Full text of the segment of the tape shown on Al-Jazeera, not necessarily the full text of the entire tape. (BBC transcription)