7 sentenced in plots to attack U.S. and Britain

Seven British members of a terrorist cell linked to Al Qaeda were sentenced Friday to as much as 26 years in prison for plotting a series of major attacks here and others on U.S. financial institutions, including the New York Stock Exchange.

Justice Alexander Butterfield ruled at their trial in April that they were essential players in an extensive plot by Muslim convert Dhiren Barot, who is serving a life sentence in England’s highest-security prison and has been described by prosecutors as “a close associate or member of Al Qaeda.” Butterfield said at Barot’s sentencing in November that the plot was intended to cause “indiscriminate carnage, bloodshed and butchery” across the U.S. and Britain.

Prosecutors said the members of the sleeper cell worked under the direction of Barot, who spent three years traveling throughout the United States, Europe and the Middle East collecting intelligence. A cellphone video taken by Barot documented a reconnaissance trip to New York before the Sept. 11 attacks, where he filmed targets such as the NYSE, World Bank, Citigroup and International Monetary Fund.

The video also shows Barot filming the World Trade Center. A voice in the background mimics the sound of an explosion as Barot tilts the phone sideways, simulating the twin towers coming down.

The seven served as couriers, drivers and engineers in plans that aimed at “mass murder, mass panic and utter devastation,” Home Secretary John Reid said.

At Woolwich Crown Court in south London, Butterfield sentenced Abdul Aziz Jalil to 26 years; Junade Feroze to 22; Mohammed Naveed Bhatti and Nadeem Tarmohammed to 20; Mohammed Zia Ul Haq to 18; and Omar Abdul Rehman and Qaisar Shaffi to 15 years.

All but Shaffi pleaded guilty in April to conspiring with Barot to cause explosions between 2001 and 2004. Shaffi was convicted Wednesday.

“They were some of the most dedicated, determined, well-trained, dangerous people who we’ve had to deal with,” Peter Clarke, head of counter-terrorism for the Metropolitan Police Service, told the BBC. “I think that is hugely important and I think the sentences reflect that.”

Officials believe Barot and his accomplices were just steps away from completing plans for their attacks when he was arrested in 2004 after visiting Al Qaeda in Pakistan.

Prosecutors said Barot had plotted intricate attacks that included detonating radioactive “dirty bombs” in crowded areas throughout London and blowing up busy subways beneath the Thames River. Clarke said the series of coordinated attacks also included “packing three limousines with gas cylinders and explosives before setting them off in underground car parks.”

During sentencing Friday, Butterfield told the seven that even though Barot masterminded the attacks, “each one of you was recruited by Barot and assisted him at his request.”

Earlier, when Barot was sentenced, Butterfield said the attacks “were intended to strike at the very heart of democracy and the security of the state. And if successful, would have affected thousands personally, millions indirectly and ultimately the whole nation of the U.S. and the U.K.”

alicia.lozano@latimes.com