Manchester bomb plotter Abid Naseer found guilty in US
Man who planned to bring 'carnage' to the Arndale Centre was arrested in UK but later released
Abid Naseer, a 28-year-old Pakistani man who was living in Britain, has been found guilty in a US court of participating in an al-Qaeda plot to blow up Manchester's Arndale Centre.
Prosecutors said he planned to detonate a car bomb outside a glass-fronted branch of Next in April 2009 and station individual suicide bombers at exits to kill Easter shoppers and bring "carnage" to the city.
Naseer was arrested by British police, along with nine other suspects, in 2009 but was released due to "very limited" evidence. In 2013, he was extradited to stand trial in the US, where he may now face life in prison.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
During the trial in New York, undercover MI5 agents gave evidence wearing wigs and make-up to protect their identities. The court was also shown a key document recovered from Osama bin Laden's home, which included details about a group of "brothers" who had been sent to the UK. "The brothers did not face any security problems other than what was mentioned on the news a few days ago about the arrest of several individuals in Britain," it stated.
The document was written just a few days after Naseer and nine other suspects had been arrested in Manchester and Liverpool.
Naseer, who arrived in Britain on a student visa, plans to appeal against the verdict.
Retired Detective Chief Inspector Allan Donoghue, who investigated the plot in the UK, said the British police command team believed there was sufficient evidence to prosecute Naseer in 2009.
The Crown Prosecution Service's decision to let him walk free had potentially endangered the public, said Donoghue. "He was a threat. He was a risk. He had the potential to kill people," he told the BBC.
However, a CPS spokesman said the evidence was "very limited". He added: "Crucially, there was no evidence of training, research or the purchasing of explosives. We had no evidence of an agreement between Abid Naseer and others which would have supported a charge of conspiracy in this country."
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
'Make legal immigration a more plausible option'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Harold Maass, The Week US Published
-
LA-to-Las Vegas high-speed rail line breaks ground
Speed Read The railway will be ready as soon as 2028
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Israel's military intelligence chief resigns
Speed Read Maj. Gen. Aharon Haliva is the first leader to quit for failing to prevent the Hamas attack in October
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
Sydney mall attacker may have targeted women
Speed Read Police commissioner says gender of victims is 'area of interest' to investigators
By Julia O'Driscoll, The Week UK Published
-
Why are kidnappings in Nigeria on the rise again?
Today's Big Question Hundreds of children and displaced people are missing as kidnap-for-ransom 'bandits' return
By Julia O'Driscoll, The Week UK Published
-
Deaths of Jesse Baird and Luke Davies hang over Sydney's Mardi Gras
The Explainer Police officer, the former partner of TV presenter victim, charged with two counts of murder after turning himself in
By Austin Chen, The Week UK Published
-
How the idyllic Galapagos Islands became staging post in world drug trade
Under the radar Ecuador's crackdown on gang violence forces drug traffickers into Pacific routes to meet cocaine demand
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Armed gangs, prison breaks and on-air hostages: how Ecuador was plunged into crisis
The Explainer Gangs launch deadly revenge after president declares state of emergency following escape of feared drug boss from prison
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Ecuador tips toward chaos amid prison breaks, armed TV takeover
Speed Read New President Daniel Noboa authorized the military to 'neutralize' powerful drug-linked gangs after they unleashed violence and terror across Ecuador
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Prague shooting: student kills 14 people at university
Speed reads Police believe suspect, who killed himself, may have shot his father before carrying out mass murder
By Arion McNicoll, The Week UK Published
-
Ex-US diplomat confessed spying for Cuba to undercover agent, FBI says
Speed Read DOJ says former US ambassador Manuel Rocha perpetrated 'one of the highest-reaching and longest-lasting infiltrations of the United States government by a foreign agent'
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published