From Hindu schoolboy to Islamic terrorist

Al Qaeda terrorist Dhiren Barot Bilal aka Abu Musa al-Hindi aka Abu Eissa al-Hindi, 34, pleaded guilty last month to conspiracy to murder in connection with planned attacks in the United States and Britain -- the latter including the use of a "dirty bomb" laced with radiological material. He watched impassively in court on Monday as prosecutors played shaky hand-held video of the New York Stock Exchange and other U.S. financial targets he has admitted planning to bomb.

"Al Qaeda terrorist Dhiren Barot - who was raised a Hindu but converted aged 20 - planned a series of atrocities to 'commit mass murder' in Britain and the USA using radioactive bombs and a petrol tanker...plans to drive explosives-packed limousines into underground car parks and blow up a series of five star hotels in London's West End, including The Ritz...blowing up the Heathrow Express rail shuttle and a devastating plan to Tube train travelling through a River Thames tunnel.

"Imagine the chaos that would be caused if a powerful explosion were to rip through here and actually rupture the river itself," he wrote in one chilling note. "This would cause pandemonium, what with the explosions, flooding, drowning, etc that would occur...

...intensive training in various aspects of terrorism' for at least five months. Police recovered copious notes made by Barot - hidden in a garage in North West London in 2004. The jottings contained detailed information about machine guns, grenades and poisons. By the time Barot had finished his time in Pakistan, he possessed a vast array of military skills. Much of his time there was chronicled in a book 'The Army of Madinah in Kashmir' - published in Britain in 1999...

Analysis of Barot's notebooks revealed a terrifying list of ways in which to inflict mass murder. It was, said Mr Lawson, a 'catalogue of weaponry' and even contained recipes to inflict 'germ warfare' on the West. He was told how to use Kalashnikov rifles, AK47 assault weapons, and was even given advice on 'how to bow up a bridge'. There were 'standard notes on various types of grenades'. A chapter headed 'The Specialist' told the reader how to run a fully functioning chemical laboratory. Chemicals, such as sulphuric acid were identified, as were methods for making explosives and poisons. " More...