UK man suspected of planning attack on military base


Royal Air Force military base in Yorkshire, February 24, 2000. AFP

A 27-year-old man inspired by radical Islam, arrested a week ago in the UK in possession of an improvised explosive device, is accused of planning a terrorist attack on a Royal Air Force base, a revealed the accusation Friday, January 27.

Mohammad Farooq was charged on Thursday with, among other things, participation in the preparation of a terrorist act and possession of explosives. He is a student nurse at the maternity hospital in Leeds, in the north of England, where he was arrested. He appeared Friday, January 27 from Bradford by videoconference, at Westminster Magistrates Court in London, for a hearing during which the facts with which he is accused were clarified.

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homemade explosive

According to the prosecution, thislone wolf» proceeded to «hostile reconnaissancein the North of England on January 10 and 18 after doing research on the internet. Prosecutor Mark Lukett said he was charged with making a viable explosive device, made from a pressure cooker, 30 pounds of a low-explosive homemade mixture and a pyrotechnic fuse.

His arrest took place in the early morning of January 20, when he was about to take up his service at the maternity ward. A witness recounted that he confided to him that he had “want to kill everyonebefore brandishing a weapon that turned out to be fake, facts for which he was also charged.

Next hearing in a week

During his presentation to justice on Friday, he simply confirmed his identity. He will later have to say whether he pleads guilty or not guilty.

He was kept in custody until the next hearing, in a week at the Old Bailey court in London. In a statement announcing his indictment on Thursday evening, James Dunkerley, the head of counter-terrorism policing in the North East, stressed that the investigation had confirmed the initial assessment that he was a “isolated incident“.



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