More on Kafeel Ahmed. “Indian suspect linked to Al Qaeda: report,” from Agence France-Presse:
BANGALORE – An Indian man who allegedly drove a jeep into Glasgow airport had
links to the Al Qaeda network, the Times of India reported Tuesday, citing evidence found at his Bangalore house.
Three CDs and a computer hard drive found at Kafeel Ahmed’s house contained
inflammatory speeches by Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, as well as anti-US and anti-
Britain propaganda, the newspaper reported in its Bangalore edition.
The hard drive contained videos of bin Laden and messages to Al Qaeda operatives, the report said, fuelling the hypothesis that the failed car bombings in London
and Glasgow in late June could be linked to the group.
Ahmed, in his mid-20s, has been identified as the man who drove a Jeep Cherokee into the Glasgow airport terminal. He is being treated for severe burns.
Indian media reports say he is an aeronautical engineer who was studying for
his doctorate in Britain, while an Australian medical official said he had applied for a doctor’s job in western Australia.
His younger brother Sabeel, a doctor, has also been held in Britain. A third Indian suspect, Mohammed Haneef, 27, also a doctor, was detained in Australia on suspicion of links to the plot.
The Times of India said Kafeel Ahmed’s mother had been aware of his “fanatical
inclinations” and tried to stop him from travelling to Britain.
“I suspected him to be taking the wrong path but had no idea what he was up
to,” Zakia Ahmed, a retired professor of medicine, reportedly told investigators. “I still cannot imagine he did something of this magnitude.”
She pleaded with the suspect not to leave before his departure for Britain on May 5, the report said, adding she threatened to disown him if he did “something wrong.”
“Even Allah will not forgive you,” she was quoted as telling her son, who did his basic engineering degree at a college in Karnataka state, of which Bangalore is the capital, reports say.
The Times of India quoted a senior intelligence officer working on counter-terrorism strategies as saying that Al Qaeda was trying to use “Indian resources and infrastructure to create havoc in the US and Europe.”
The Times of India also notes:
Kafeel, before leaving for Britain on May five, had handed over the disk to his
mother Zakia Ahmed, warning her that it contained some important information on his
“project”.
Kafeel also asked his mother to ensure the safety of the disk and not to let it
slip into anyone’s hands.
Zakia, taking the warning seriously, had handed the disk over to her daughter
Sadia, a medical student. Sadia, in turn, asked a friend to keep the disk.
When Kafeel called his home here on June 30, he told his mother that he was
working on an important “project” and asked his family to pray for its success, investigators said. They pointed out that the failed terror attacks in Britain occurred hours after Kafeel spoke to his family.
Kafeel had also told his family (again from The Times of India) that he was working on a “confidential project on global warming.”