Terror trial hears threat claims

A student who is standing trial on terror charges threatened to "blow up Glasgow", a court has heard.

Mohammed Atif Siddique, from Alva in Clackmannanshire, has denied a total of five offences.

Fellow student Razia Hussain told the High Court in Glasgow she gave her college classmate two nicknames - "Suicide Bomber" and "al-Qaeda".

Ms Hussain also claimed Mr Siddique, 21, only communicated with anyone if it was something to do with Islam.

Ms Hussein, who is now an immigration officer at Glasgow Airport, told the court that Siddique regularly looked at suicide bomb websites.

She said: "He said he was going to blow Glasgow up. As a joke I said please inform me so I can run."

She added that he repeatedly claimed he wanted to be a suicide bomber, said he had met Osama Bin Laden, and had either been on or was going to a "training course" somewhere near Edinburgh or Stirling.

Under cross examination by defence QC Donald Findlay, Ms Hussain acknowledged that she was a Shia Muslim, unlike Siddique who was a Sunni Muslim.

She added that she was not devoutly religious and did not know much about Islam.

'Doing harm'

The court also heard that the religious difference had led to "heated discussion" between the pair.

Mr Findlay said: "Mohammed regarded you as a silly girl who didn't understand religion, who was not interested in religious matters and dressed in a way that he thought was inappropriate.

"What you have done is to take the things that you know about Mohammed and his beliefs and then quite deliberately change them and make it seem as if he was somebody who was interested in doing harm.

"That's a deliberate lie. You are a liar and you are making it up."

Ms Hussain denied being a liar. She added: "I wouldn't lie if someone said to me about being a suicide bomber."

The court had earlier heard that Mr Siddique was caught looking at video clips of "a suicide bomber" and "someone like Osama bin Laden".

Glasgow Metropolitan College communications lecturer Brian Glancey said he found Mr Siddique watching the clips.

Mr Siddique, of Myretoungate, was a student at the college between 2003 and 2005. He was arrested in a police operation in Alva on 13 April, 2006.

Mr Glancey told the court he had found Mr Siddique looking at inappropriate material on the internet on two occasions in 2003.

Switched off

He said: "I think I saw a video of Osama Bin Laden or someone like him.

"There was no sound - the person was speaking, but to who I don't know. I told Siddique to stop it and he switched it off."

Mr Glancey then said that about three weeks later he found the student watching a clip of a "Palestinian suicide bomber" in class.

He said: "This person had a gun, a green bandana and T-shirt and there was Arabic text along the screen. He appeared to be speaking to the camera.

"I told Mohammed that it was against college policy to look at terrorist, violent or pornographic sites and, again, he simply switched it off."

Mr Glancey later said under cross-examination that he could not tell if the footage had come from a news website.

Guerrilla tactics

Mr Siddique faces four charges under the Terrorism Act 2000.

He has been accused of possessing suspicious terrorism-related items including CDs and videos of weapons use, guerrilla tactics and bomb-making.

He has also been accused of collecting terrorist-related information, setting up websites showing how to make and use weapons and explosives, and circulating inflammatory terrorist publications.

A further charge of breach of the peace relates to claims that he showed students at Glasgow Metropolitan College images of suicide bombers and terrorist beheadings.

This charge also includes the allegation that he threatened to become a suicide bomber, and claimed to be a member of al-Qaeda.

The trial continues.

A STUDENT facing terrorism charges spoke of attending “training groups” in Edinburgh, a court heard today.

Mohammed Atif Siddique, 21, also told a fellow student how he wanted to be a suicide bomber, blow up Glasgow and that he had met Osama bin Laden.

He is facing five charges including possessing, collecting and distributing terrorist propaganda and providing instructional material for bomb making.
Siddique, from Alva in Clackmannanshire, denies all the charges.

At the High Court in Glasgow, Razia Hussain said the accused made a series of claims while they were studying computing at Glasgow Metropolitan College.

The 22-year-old told the court that Siddique would access non work related websites in class every time he had an opportunity.

Questioned by Crown counsel Brian McConnachie QC about what the websites displayed, she replied: “People getting blown up, people who were dead, armies and explosions.

“Mohammed used to explain to me about these sites, about people getting blown up.

“How this is right and should be done because we are Muslims.
“Mohammed said that as Muslims we should commit Jihad.”

Asked by Mr McConnachie what Jihad meant she answered: “To go and blow yourself up.”

Ms Hussain told the court that one image showed a dead man with a smile on his face.

She added: “Mohammed said this was because he had committed Jihad and God was going to be happy.

“He said he wanted to be one as well – a suicide bomber.”

“How many times did he say that?” Mr McConnachie asked.
“A few times,” she replied.

Siddique also denies causing a breach of the peace by threatening to become a suicide bomber and saying he was a member of the terror network al Qaida, as well as showing images of suicide bombers and beheadings.

Ms Hussain also told the court that the accused claimed to have met Osama bin Laden and was visiting or planning to visit “training groups” in Edinburgh or Stirling.