Terror accused appear before Old Bailey

Five men, arrested in a multi-agency operation involving 700 police officers last month, and a 17-year-old youth have appeared before the Old Bailey in London to face terrorism charges.

Four of the men – Anthony Garcia, 21, of Ilford, Essex, Jawad Akbar, 20, Omar Khyam, 22, and Waheed Mahmoud, 32, all from Crawley, West Sussex – have been charged with conspiracy to cause an explosion between 1 October 2003 and 31 March this year.

Nabeel Hussain, 18, from Horley, Surrey, has been charged under the Terrorism Act 2000. He, along with Mr Garcia and Mr Kyam, are charged with an article for purposes of terrorism – that is, 600kg of ammonium nitrate fertilizer.

A 17-year-old youth, who cannot be named for legal reasons, has been charged with conspiracy to cause an explosion and appeared before Bow Street Magistrates Court yesterday.

Eight men were arrested and more than half a tonne of ammonium nitrate fertilizer seized at a self-storage facility in Boston Road, Hanwell, West London, during raids on addresses across London and the Home Counties on March 30.

They were held on suspicion of being "concerned in the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism", the Metropolitan Police said.

Today, the accused spoke only to confirm their names and were remanded in custody until mid-July.

(gmcg)