World | UK
British suspect admits he is a 'terrorist'
An Iraqi doctor accused of plotting car bomb attacks in London and Scotland admitted on Monday he was a "terrorist" but said he had not planned to kill or injure anyone.
- Agencies
- Published: 23:29 November 17, 2008
London: An Iraqi doctor accused of plotting car bomb attacks in London and Scotland admitted on Monday he was a "terrorist" but said he had not planned to kill or injure anyone.
Bilal Abdullah, 29, who was in a car packed with gas and petrol canisters that was rammed into Glasgow Airport and then set on fire, told Woolwich Crown Court he had said to Scottish police shortly afterwards that he was a terrorist.
However he said he had not planned to take part in a suicide attack, the Press Association reported.
The dramatic attack in Glasgow in June last year came a day after two cars also packed with fuel containers, gas canisters and nails were left outside a busy nightclub in central London.
Yesterday, Abdullah was asked whether he had told a police officer he was a terrorist after his arrest at Glasgow airport.
"I said something along those lines, but it was more like a question," he told the court.
"Everyone was saying you are a terrorist, you are arrested under the Terrorism Act and so forth. That is my case in a nutshell. I am told I am a terrorist, but is your government not a terrorist, is your army not a terrorist?
"By the definition of the Act, according to English law, yes. That is my aim - to change opinion using violence, using fire devices."
Abdullah, who is on trial with Jordanian doctor Mohammad Asha, 28, said he planned to flee Britain via Turkey after attacks in London failed. But as they approached Glasgow airport his friend, Indian Kafeel Ahmad, 28, swerved the jeep into the terminal building without warning.
Abdullah and Ahmad, 28, who later died of burns he sustained in the attack, had wanted to highlight the plight of people in Iraq and Afghanistan with a series of incendiary device attacks, the defence has said.
Share this article
News Editor's choice
-
A year after 173 defenceless people were killed
Mumbai itself is far from safe from another deadly attack, even though the level of security consciousness of the average Mumbaikar has been raised since 26/11
-
Nato supports Obama's plea
European and other allies to send around 6,000 troops to Afghanistan
-
Official confirms mayor is the suspect
Many witnesses have come forward, justice secretary says
-
Into an oasis of values
A place to snuggle in the warmth of old manners away from the bustle of city life
