5 charged in British soldier plot

ap
LONDON -- Five men were charged Friday in a plot to kidnap and kill a British soldier, prosecutors said, revealing details of the alleged plan for the first time.

They were among nine people arrested Jan. 31. British media had reported the raids were in connection with an alleged plan to abduct, torture and behead a British Muslim soldier and broadcast the killing on the Internet.

The five were charged with helping supply equipment for use in terrorist acts and helping arrange to provide money or property that they were aware could be used for terrorism, between March and January, prosecutors said.

They appeared in City of Westminster Magistrates' Court after prosecutors confirmed for the first time that they were arrested in connection with a suspected plot to kill a soldier. Three of the other men arrested in the raids have been released, while another remains in custody but has not been charged.

One of the men, Parviz Khan, 36, has been charged with taking steps to carry out "his intention to kidnap and kill a member of the armed forces," prosecutor Sue Hemming told a news conference.

The four other men were identified as Mohammed Irfan, 30, Zahoor Iqbal, 29, Hamid Elasmar, 43, and Amjad Mahmood, 31.

All five were ordered held by district judge Daphne Wickham until a Feb. 23 hearing.

Mahmood is also charged with failing to give authorities information that could have prevented the others from committing a terrorist act, prosecutors said.

David Shaw, the West Midlands police officer in charge of the investigation, told the news conference that police were analyzing more than 4,500 seized items, including computers, documents and mobile phones.

He said police had "made extraordinary progress" since the arrests.

"While the charging of some of those arrested is a very significant development, I don't want to leave you thinking this inquiry is now complete," Shaw said.