Terrorism? Nabeel Hussain is shocked — shocked! — at the very idea. “Suspect thought fertiliser for construction not bomb,” from Reuters, with thanks to Ronin:
One of seven Britons accused of planning to carry out bomb attacks said on Monday he thought a huge bag of fertiliser contained sand for construction work rather than material for making explosives, as prosecutors claim.
Nabeel Hussain, 20, told London’s Old Bailey court that he had no involvement in a suspected plot to set off bombs at high-profile targets such as pubs, clubs and a shopping centre.
Hussain, a student at Brunel University in west London, admitted that his credit card and signature had been used to pay for a storage facility where 600 kg (1,300 lb) of ammonium nitrate fertiliser were stored in early 2004.
Hussain said that he had lent the money to another of the suspects, Omar Khyam, without asking questions.
“I had building (sites) in the street, they had bags like that (in the storage) … so I thought it was sand,” he told the court.
“He (Khyam) then explained to me it was (going) to be used for renovation work, to do up homes. He was going to store it for some machinery, and I said ‘ok’.”
He said he was scared when he learnt some weeks later through a mutual friend of Kyham’s what the bag actually contained.
Asked if he was part of a plan to use explosives to murder people in Britain, Hussain said: “(I) certainly was not. It was against my beliefs, my religion.
“It was never something I was part of or wanted to be part of.”