Airline Employee Plotted With Al-Qaeda Leader
02-03-2011, 05:27 AM
#1
Banned
Thread Starter
Joined APC: Jul 2010
Posts: 793
Airline Employee Plotted With Al-Qaeda Leader
If we could only some how tweak our security measures to ferret out criminals like Karim and Zazi who assimilate and blend into our society so easily making them almost impossible to differentiate from aunt Betsy, we'd be onto something. 
-------------------------------------------------------------
Airline Employee Plotted With Al-Qaeda Leader, Prosecution Says
Prosecutors: Anwar Al-Awlaki Communicated in Encrypted Messages With British Airways Employee
By LEE FERRAN
Feb. 2, 2011
Anwar al-Awlaki, a U.S.-born radical cleric and high-profile member of al-Qaeda, attempted to coordinate an attack on a U.S.-bound airplane with the help of a British Airways insider, prosecutors said in a British court Tuesday.
Bangladeshi national Rajib Karim, a former British Airways employee, is on trial in England for terror-related charges after prosecutors say he plotted with al-Awlaki in 2010 to carry out both cyber and physical attacks against British Airlines passengers, including potentially bringing down a trans-Atlantic flight.
"The defendant was anxious himself to carry out such an attack and he was determined to seek martyrdom - to die and to sacrifice himself for his cause," prosecutor Jonathan Laidlaw said Tuesday, according to the BBC.
Karim pleaded guilty to three terror-related charges, but denied others, including the accusation he plotted to bring down any flights, Laidlaw told the court. Karim, who worked at a call center in Newcastle, England, applied for cabin crew training but was told he didn't have enough experience, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors said in open court Tuesday that Karim joined the British airline in 2007 with the intention to carry out terrorist activities from the inside. Karim denied that claim.
In correspondences between Karim and his brother read aloud in court today, Karim reportedly said he had no doubts "whatsoever" that the civilians he lived and worked around were legitimate targets for attack.
"And the more I am mixing with them, the more my conviction is getting stronger [by Allah]," Karim wrote, according to prosecutors.
In addition to the alleged plane plot, according to prosecutors, Karim told Al-Awlaki in early 2010 he could disrupt BA's computer system -- potentially causing significant financial loses, damage to hardware and stranding crew and passengers the world over.
It would be "total chaos," Karim said in the messages, according to prosecutors.
Laidlaw told the court Karim was acting as an operative for the Bangladeshi terror group Jamaat-Ul Mujahideen Bangladesh.
Al-Awlaki, a U.S.-born radical cleric, is a key leader of Al Qaeda's Yemen branch, Al Qaeda in the Arab Peninsula (AQAP). In November, al-Awlaki released a video urging Muslims to murder Americans.
Wanted dead or alive by U.S. officials for his role in inciting terrorist plots against the U.S., he is believed to be hiding in Yemen.
Karim is not the first former airline or airport employee to be accused in a terror plot.
In Feb. 2010, Najibullah Zazi, an airport shuttle bus driver, pleaded guilty to three terrorism charges after he was accused of conspiring to detonate an explosive in the New York City subway system.
Russell Defreitas, one of the men convicted in the failed 2007 plot to bomb JFK airport, was reportedly previous employed by Evergreen airlines.
-------------------------------------------------------------
Airline Employee Plotted With Al-Qaeda Leader, Prosecution Says
Prosecutors: Anwar Al-Awlaki Communicated in Encrypted Messages With British Airways Employee
By LEE FERRAN
Feb. 2, 2011
Anwar al-Awlaki, a U.S.-born radical cleric and high-profile member of al-Qaeda, attempted to coordinate an attack on a U.S.-bound airplane with the help of a British Airways insider, prosecutors said in a British court Tuesday.
Bangladeshi national Rajib Karim, a former British Airways employee, is on trial in England for terror-related charges after prosecutors say he plotted with al-Awlaki in 2010 to carry out both cyber and physical attacks against British Airlines passengers, including potentially bringing down a trans-Atlantic flight.
"The defendant was anxious himself to carry out such an attack and he was determined to seek martyrdom - to die and to sacrifice himself for his cause," prosecutor Jonathan Laidlaw said Tuesday, according to the BBC.
Karim pleaded guilty to three terror-related charges, but denied others, including the accusation he plotted to bring down any flights, Laidlaw told the court. Karim, who worked at a call center in Newcastle, England, applied for cabin crew training but was told he didn't have enough experience, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors said in open court Tuesday that Karim joined the British airline in 2007 with the intention to carry out terrorist activities from the inside. Karim denied that claim.
In correspondences between Karim and his brother read aloud in court today, Karim reportedly said he had no doubts "whatsoever" that the civilians he lived and worked around were legitimate targets for attack.
"And the more I am mixing with them, the more my conviction is getting stronger [by Allah]," Karim wrote, according to prosecutors.
In addition to the alleged plane plot, according to prosecutors, Karim told Al-Awlaki in early 2010 he could disrupt BA's computer system -- potentially causing significant financial loses, damage to hardware and stranding crew and passengers the world over.
It would be "total chaos," Karim said in the messages, according to prosecutors.
Laidlaw told the court Karim was acting as an operative for the Bangladeshi terror group Jamaat-Ul Mujahideen Bangladesh.
Al-Awlaki, a U.S.-born radical cleric, is a key leader of Al Qaeda's Yemen branch, Al Qaeda in the Arab Peninsula (AQAP). In November, al-Awlaki released a video urging Muslims to murder Americans.
Wanted dead or alive by U.S. officials for his role in inciting terrorist plots against the U.S., he is believed to be hiding in Yemen.
Karim is not the first former airline or airport employee to be accused in a terror plot.
In Feb. 2010, Najibullah Zazi, an airport shuttle bus driver, pleaded guilty to three terrorism charges after he was accused of conspiring to detonate an explosive in the New York City subway system.
Russell Defreitas, one of the men convicted in the failed 2007 plot to bomb JFK airport, was reportedly previous employed by Evergreen airlines.
02-03-2011, 06:19 AM
#2
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Feb 2009
Posts: 309
Probably had a badge that got him past security every day. But lets treat the pilots like terrorists. Step right up and see the greatest security SHOW on earth!
Last edited by gipple; 02-03-2011 at 06:20 AM. Reason: order
02-03-2011, 08:37 AM
#3
Can't abide NAI
Joined APC: Jun 2007
Position: Douglas Aerospace post production Flight Test & Work Around Engineering bulletin dissembler
Posts: 11,990
As much as we bag on the TSA, I'm glad we've got them instead of some outsourced service hiring the absolute cheapest they can find.
Would not bother me a bit to have TSA perform the security sweeps on our international flights and first flight of the day stuff. Stories like this are not isolated events.
Would not bother me a bit to have TSA perform the security sweeps on our international flights and first flight of the day stuff. Stories like this are not isolated events.
02-03-2011, 09:21 AM
#4
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Nov 2009
Posts: 5,194
Originally Posted by Bucking Bar
As much as we bag on the TSA, I'm glad we've got them instead of some outsourced service hiring the absolute cheapest they can find.
That's exactly what the TSA is, only it's your tax dollars fueling the charade.
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
