Brit-Pakistani arrested for buying terrorist equipment for Lashkar-e-Toiba(for attacks on US forces in Afghanistan)

UK "quartermaster" for Pakistan militants jailed

17 Mar 2006 15:16:17 GMT

Source: Reuters
LONDON, March 17 (Reuters) - A British man, who bought equipment which might have been used in attacks on coalition troops in Afghanistan, was jailed on Friday after he admitted being a "terrorist quartermaster", UK police said. Mohammed Ajmal Khan, 31, bought material that was sent to and used by the proscribed Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), a Pakistan-based militant group fighting in Indian-ruled Kashmir and that Britain says has links to al Qaeda. The group was banned in 2002 after being blamed for a bloody attack on the Indian parliament which brought Pakistan and India close to a fourth war. British police said Khan had provided material for the group when it was planning and conducting operations in Afghanistan in 2002-3 when coalition forces were involved in heavy fighting in the region. "Khan is a terrorist," said Peter Clarke, head of the UK's anti-terrorism branch said in a statement. "He has been trained in violence. He went to great lengths to buy terrorist equipment, some of which could well have been used against British forces." London's Snaresbrook Crown Court heard that Khan had access to more than 20,000 pounds ($35,000) to buy equipment, which included 1,000 sq metres of Kevlar -- a material used to make armour plating for vehicles and for bullet proof armour. He was also involved in buying remote high tech videos and a global positioning system which were used to test an unmanned aerial "drone". British police said such drones laden with explosives had been shot down by Indian and Pakistani forces in the region and that the LeT had claimed on its Web site to have used them successfully in attacks. He had been trying to buy night vision and thermal imaging equipment when arrested in 2003 and also worked closely with Masaud Khan and Seifullah Chapman -- both given long jail terms in the United States in 2004 for terrorism-related offences. Mohammed Khan received eight years for conspiring to enter into "an arrangement as a result of which money or other property is made available or is to be made available for the purposes of terrorism". He was also given a further year in jail for being in contempt of court.