Thread starterbashe19 Start dateA moment ag
Wednesday June 27, 2018
Ali travelled on an aid convoy to Gaza
Khalid Ali was carrying three knives when he was tackled by armed officers near Downing Street in April 2017 - and was just moments from being able to attack police, politicians or military personnel.
But unknown to him, clues picked up from bomb parts recovered from Afghanistan more than four years earlier meant that police were watching his every move.
Ali was one of seven children born to an Ethiopian mother and Somali father in Saudi Arabia, where the family moved to after escaping civil war in Ethiopia and from where - in 1992 - they came to the UK.
He grew up in Edmonton and trained as a gas engineer and plumber after leaving school, but in his late teens became increasingly absorbed by religion and politics.
Missing for five years
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In 2010, Ali travelled on an aid convoy to Gaza, appearing in news reports after a shipping dispute resulted in some of the travellers being forcibly taken to Greece.
Kieran Turner, who helped organise the convoy, told the BBC: "At that point I thought 'nice young man - this is going to be one of the people that's fun to travel with'."
Ali "had a sense of humour" and "always smiled", Mr Turner recalled.
But Ali was a more complex figure than he appeared.
In June 2011 he told family members he was moving to Birmingham for work. They would not hear from him for more than five years.
He was reported missing and, during subsequent inquiries, a laptop from his bedroom was found to contain speeches by the al-Qaeda ideologue Anwar al-Awlaki encouraging people to engage in military jihad.
In truth, Ali had gone to Afghanistan to join the Taliban.
There, according to Deputy Assistant Commissioner Dean Haydon, senior national co-ordinator for counter-terrorism policing, he went to a "Taliban training camp affiliated to al-Qaeda where, for several years he helped terrorists make hundreds of bombs capable of mass murder".
In late October 2016, Ali suddenly appeared at the British consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, claiming to have lost his passport and seeking a temporary travel document in order to get home.
Two days later, without luggage or possessions, he landed at Heathrow and was immediately questioned under terrorism laws.Khalid Ali: Plumber turned bomb-maker who planned London attack
Thread starterbashe19 Start dateA moment ago
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A moment ago#1
Khalid Ali: Plumber turned bomb-maker who planned London attack
Wednesday June 27, 2018
Ali travelled on an aid convoy to Gaza
Khalid Ali was carrying three knives when he was tackled by armed officers near Downing Street in April 2017 - and was just moments from being able to attack police, politicians or military personnel.
But unknown to him, clues picked up from bomb parts recovered from Afghanistan more than four years earlier meant that police were watching his every move.
Ali was one of seven children born to an Ethiopian mother and Somali father in Saudi Arabia, where the family moved to after escaping civil war in Ethiopia and from where - in 1992 - they came to the UK.
He grew up in Edmonton and trained as a gas engineer and plumber after leaving school, but in his late teens became increasingly absorbed by religion and politics.
Missing for five years
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In 2010, Ali travelled on an aid convoy to Gaza, appearing in news reports after a shipping dispute resulted in some of the travellers being forcibly taken to Greece.
Kieran Turner, who helped organise the convoy, told the BBC: "At that point I thought 'nice young man - this is going to be one of the people that's fun to travel with'."
Ali "had a sense of humour" and "always smiled", Mr Turner recalled.
But Ali was a more complex figure than he appeared.
In June 2011 he told family members he was moving to Birmingham for work. They would not hear from him for more than five years.
He was reported missing and, during subsequent inquiries, a laptop from his bedroom was found to contain speeches by the al-Qaeda ideologue Anwar al-Awlaki encouraging people to engage in military jihad.
In truth, Ali had gone to Afghanistan to join the Taliban.
There, according to Deputy Assistant Commissioner Dean Haydon, senior national co-ordinator for counter-terrorism policing, he went to a "Taliban training camp affiliated to al-Qaeda where, for several years he helped terrorists make hundreds of bombs capable of mass murder".
In late October 2016, Ali suddenly appeared at the British consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, claiming to have lost his passport and seeking a temporary travel document in order to get home.
Two days later, without luggage or possessions, he landed at Heathrow and was immediately questioned under terrorism laws.
