A man accused of plotting terrorist attacks on targets in Britain was involved in discussions about buying an atomic bomb, London's Old Bailey court heard on Wednesday.

Salahuddin Amin, one of seven British men with alleged al-Qaida links charged with conspiring to carry out a UK bombing campaign, was asked by a friend in Pakistan to contact a man called Abu Annis. This he did via the Internet and Annis told him they had got in touch with the Russian mafia in Belgium and were trying to buy a radioisotope bomb from them.

Amin told police in interviews he did not think it was likely "you can go and pick up an atomic bomb and use it."

But David Waters, prosecuting, said whether or not the plan was realistic, the fact that this information was shared with Amin showed the trust in which he was held by his accomplices in Pakistan.

The court also heard that the seven conspirators, six of whom allegedly underwent explosives training in terrorist camps in Pakistan, considered blowing up one of Europe's biggest shopping centres, Bluewater, in Kent, south east of London, on a busy Saturday, or targeting a nightclub in central London.

Waters said a security service bug picked up one of the defendants, Waheed Mahmood, on March 19 2004, 11 days before the men were arrested, raising the possibility of "a little explosion at Bluewater, tomorrow if you want."

"I don't know how big it would be, we haven't tested it, but we could tomorrow do one tomorrow," he is alleged to have said. He apparently asked another defendant, Omar Khyam, "Is it worth getting all the brothers together tonight and asking who would be ready to go?"

Waheed Mahmood also allegedly spoke admiringly of the Madrid bombings, which killed 201 people on March 11, 2004, commenting: "Spain was a beautiful job, weren't it, absolutely beautiful man, so much impact."

A month earlier, on February 22, another of the accused, Jawad Akbar, was recorded talking about possibly targeting utilities - gas, water or electrical supplies, said Waters, or a London nightclub. "The biggest nightclub in central London, no one can put their hands up and say they are innocent those slags dancing around," Akbar allegedly said. "I think the club thing you could do but the gas would be much harder."

Waters said that when the alleged bombers were arrested, police found a long list of synagogues at Khyam's family home, while at the flat of another defendant, Nabeel Hussain, they discovered 12 CDs which contained detailed information about the Transco network, the electricity and gas supplier for which Waheed Mahmood had worked.

Akbar was also reported to have told his wife he was going to be trained to "do a big mission."

"When we kill the Kuf (non- believers) this is because we know Allah hates the Kufs," he allegedly said.

Khyam, 24, his brother Shujah Mahmood, 18, Akbar, 22, Waheed Mahmood, 33, all from Crawley, West Sussex, south of London; Anthony Garcia, 27, from Ilford, Essex, east of London; Hussain, 20, from Horley, Surrey, south of London; and Amin, 31, from Luton, Bedfordshire, north of London, all deny conspiracy to cause explosions in the UK. Khyam, Garcia and Hussain deny possessing 600 kilograms of ammonium nitrate fertiliser for terrorist purposes. Khyam and Shujah Mahmood deny a further charge of possessing aluminium powder, which can also be used to make bombs, the court heard.

All the defendants, except Amin, who was in Pakistan, refused to answer questions when they were arrested on March 30, 2004, and later gave statements denying any involvement in terrorism.

Amin, however, who was arrested in February 2005 on his return from Pakistan, allegedly told police about the explosives training the defendants had undergone in 2003 in the Pakistani town of Kohat, and that Khyam wanted to "do something in the UK," said Waters.

The case continues.

Source: China Daily