A British plumber has been convicted of planning a terror attack in Westminster and making bombs for the Taliban.
Khalid Ali, 28, was arrested on 27 April 2017 in Parliament Street, where he was caught carrying three knives.
Prosecutors said Ali, from Edmonton in north London, had planned a “murderous attack” on politicians and police.
In a police interview, Ali said he wanted to deliver a “message” to British authorities, but claimed the knives were for protection.
An Old Bailey jury convicted him of preparing an act of terrorism in the UK and two counts of possessing an explosive substance with intent. He did not react as the verdicts were read out.
Ali will be sentenced on 20 July.
On 22 April last year – one month after the Westminster terror attack – Ali was caught on CCTV walking past the MI6 building at Vauxhall Cross, as well as Westminster Bridge, the Houses of Parliament and Whitehall.
Five days later, his mother called police and said she had found four knives in his bedroom.
Police swooped in to arrest him just metres from Downing Street later that day.
Ali had spent several years in Afghanistan, and when asked by British police whether he had returned to the UK for jihad, he replied: “Jihad is what we do. We are Mujahideen.”
Deputy Assistant Commissioner Dean Haydon described Ali as an “incredibly dangerous individual”.
Prosecutor Brian Altman QC had told the jury that Ali planned a “deadly terror attack at the very heart of this country’s democracy by killing a police officer, a member of the military or even a parliamentarian”….
Armed police captured Khalid Ali on the ground as he is held down by officers and searched for weapons.
- PA:PRESS ASSOCIATION
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