TerrorismTwo U.K. terrorists plead guilty in U.S. court

Two British men who spent eight years fighting extradition to the United States have pled guilty to terrorism charges. Babar Ahmad, a 39-year-old south London resident admitted to charges of conspiracy and providing material support to terrorism. He admitted the offenses as part of a plea agreement in a federal court hearing in New Haven Connecticut, and faces twenty-five years in jail.

The second British man, Syed Talha Ahsan, admitted to assisting terrorists by helping Ahmad. Ahsan, faces up to fifteen years in jail.

The BBC reports that both men were extradited to the United States in October 2012. Ahmad has not changed two separate non guilty pleas to charges of conspiracy to kill and money laundering. District Judge Janet Hall will review Ahmad’s statements before issuing a sentence on 4 March 2014. The plea agreement offers Ahmad a reduced sentence, but prosecutors are still seeking twenty-five years.

The case against both men is based on a Web site and terrorism support network that Ahmad operated in London. In the plea agreement, Ahmad states that “he solicited and conspired to provide funds [and] personnel for the Taliban regime in Afghanistan” and that he and others “recruited men to travel to Afghanistan for mujahedeen training and sought out gas masks to send abroad.”

Ahmad founded Azzam publications in the late 1990s. As one of the first Web sites promoting Jihadism in English, Azzam publications played a pivotal role in spreading Jihadist propaganda as the movement began to develop in the West. Though the original Web site was shut down within weeks of the 9/11 attacks, the majority of its content was later published on a similar Web site. 

The BBC notes that Sajid Badat, a British man who renounced extremism after plotting to blow up a plane, told investigators that he was radicalized by Ahmad. The leader of the 7 July 2005 London bombings had copies of literature promoting martyrdom from Azzam. His will is said to be based on a document first published on Azzam.

Ahmad and Ahsan were first arrested on an extradition warrant in 2006. Before their arrival in a U.S court, both claimed the extradition was unwarranted because the Web site’s activities were conducted in Britain, where neither had been charged or prosecuted for terrorism activities. The case against both men, however, notes that the Web site was technically based in the United States.

Ahmad’s campaign to avoid extradition to the United States mobilized more than 100,000 people who signed an e-petition in an effort to have Parliament debate the matter.

Deirdre Daly, acting U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut, said: “They acknowledged that they solicited funds, recruited personnel and provided additional support for acts of terror, including efforts based out of the United States and solicitations for support that were specifically targeted at U.S. residents. In doing so, they also admitted that they knew that their efforts could result in the maiming and murder of individuals, including U.S. citizens. This prosecution is a testament to the resolve of our prosecution team and our federal law enforcement partners… as well as our counterparts in the U.K. who have provided crucial assistance to this lengthy international investigation.”

Before he lost his extradition campaign, BBC interviewed Ahmad in prison, in which Ahmad denied supporting al Qaeda-led terrorist attacks in the West, including the 9/11 attacks and the 7/7 London bombings.