Five men have been charged under the Terrorism Act 2006 and the Terrorism Act 2000 following a series of police arrests iin Birmingham last week. The men, all from Birmingham, have appeared in a City of Westminster Magistrates court in London today.
One man - Parviz Khan (36) has been charged with plotting to kidnap and kill a British Army soldier. Also charged with various terrorism offences are Hamid Elasmar (43), Amjad Mahmood (31), Mohammed Irfan (30) and Zahoor Iqbal (29).
Police arrested eight men after dawn raids in Birmingham last week and took a ninth into custody later. Three of the men were subsequently released without being charged.
Speaking about charges against one of the accused men, Sue Hemming, the head of the CPS counter terrorism section, revealed that the Crown alleges that Khan had an "intention to kidnap and kill a member of the British armed forces" between Nov 1st, 2006, until the time of his arrest last week.
"Nine days ago I told you that we were at the foothills of a major investigation," comments Assistant Chief Constable David Shaw of West Midlands Police. "We have made extraordinary progress in that time but it would be wrong of me to leave you thinking that this is in any sense a completed inquiry. To date we have seized over 4,500 exhibits, which includes computers, mobile phones and many documents. I am extremely encouraged by the way in which this investigation has progressed"
One of the men initially arrested and later released without charge, Abu Bakr, told the media: "These laws are designed specifically for Muslims. We are feeling the brunt of it all. We are the ones that are being locked up, detained, and then told to go back to our lives." The police, in particular, have been the target of allegations by Birmingham's Muslim community that they have been exacerabating racial tension with the recent spate of arrests.
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