© EYE SPY
Blurred vision: After a number of trips to surveil US targets, Barot turned his attention to Great Britain
Dhiren Barot - mastermind of the sinister operation
COURTESY: SCOTLAND YARD
Intelligence Threads Disable the Gas Limos Project
even terrorists were jailed at Woolwich Crown Court on 15 June 2007 for a total of 136 years following a joint MI5Scotland Yard investigation. Officials admitted it was the biggest counter-terrorism operation in British history. The seven men associates of convicted terrorist Dhiren Barot were found guilty of charges including conspiracy to murder and conspiracy to cause explosions with intent to endanger life. Sentencing the men Mr Justice Butterfield said: “Barot was the instigator of this terrorist planning, he was by some considerable distance the principal participant in the conspiracy.”
S
The seven, who pleaded guilty in April, were all involved in a plot better known as the Gas
Limos Project (one proposed operation involved using high status Limousines to penetrate security - the vehicles would be packed with explosives and detonated). Targets identified by the gang included the New York Stock Exchange and the World Bank in America; the Heathrow Express, Tube trains and a tunnel under the River Thames in England. FALLING DOWN In Spring 2004, Dhiren Barot flew to Pakistan. For the past four years he and his associates had researched a plan that involved striking numerous targets simultaneously. Barot now needed support, additional funding and sanction from al-Qaida leaders. But unbeknown to the man dubbed “the general”, MI5 and the FBI were monitoring his every move.
Doors Closed on Al-Qaida’s Harrow Gang 48
Barot was arrested and the conspiracy stopped in its tracks. He was jailed in 2006 for plotting to kill “hundreds if not thousands” of people. Speaking after Barot’s associates were jailed, Johnathan Laidlaw, for the prosecution said: “They were amongst his trusted few. They were his support team. We do not suggest it was just these seven men - there may have been others - but these men were the most prominent amongst that team.” Mr Laidlaw said Barot needed the help “of those who could provide him with accommodation, false identities, access to false bank accounts, who could provide a place of storage for his plans and research material and access to computers etc.” Summing up at the end of the trial, Justice Butterfield said to the men: “Each one of you was recruited by Barot and assisted him at his request. Anyone who chooses to participate in such a plan will receive little sympathy from the courts.” The Harrow Gang Nadeem Tarmohamed, 29, flew to the United States to help Barot surveil targets - replacing gang member Qaisar Shaffi, 28, when he fell ill. Shaffi and Barot had earlier carried out
The Sentences (left to right) Mohammed Naveed Bhatti 20-years Junade Feroze 22-years Zia Ul Haq 18 years Abdul Aziz Jalil 26-years Omar Abdur Rehman 15 years Qaisar Shaffi 15-years Nadeem Tarmohamed 20-years
reconnaissance of US targets prior to 9/11. Tarmohamed’s involvement was first identified by MI5 in a note in a book whereby Barot thanked him for being “simply invaluable.” Tarmohamed had apparently bought books for the research of the project in 2002 and 2003 and he had read the plans for the American attack on his computer. Also, when police arrested Barot, they discovered he had a set of keys to Tarmohamed’s address. A link was therefore confirmed. Mohammed Naveed Bhatti, 27, had a forged library card with Barot’s photograph on it. Bhatti gave Barot permission to use his parents’ garage where much of the terrorist planning and material for the plot was recovered. MI5 also found an encrypted DVD of the American plans. When forensic scientists examined Bhatti’s computer, they painstakingly pieced together a deleted draft of the Gas Limos Project. Bhatti also acted as a chauffeur for Barot and an advertisement for a job as a petrol tanker driver was found at his house. Intelligence analysts recognised that these two elements were clearly essential in that they revealed how the explosives would be moved to the targets. When investigators probed the involvement of Abdul Aziz Jalil, 34, they discovered he had rented a safe-house for Barot in London.
The area around New York’s Stock Exchange was identified long before 9/11 by Barot
© EYE SPY E Y E
S P Y
I S S U E
4 9,
2 0 0 7
E Y E
S P Y
I S S U E
4 9,
2 0 0 7
49