Two Islamist terrorists were found guilty in the United Kingdom of planning an armed attack against the Jewish community of Manchester, a plot that, according to the authorities, aimed to cause "incalculable damage" and that was inspired by the Islamic State (ISIS).
The verdict was handed down by Preston Crown Court after a trial in which the planning, the weapons smuggling, and the surveillance of possible targets were detailed.
The convicted men are Walid Saadaoui, 38 years old, and Amar Hussein, 52. According to what was presented during the judicial process, both men felt a "visceral antipathy" toward Jews and worked together to bring firearms into the United Kingdom in order to carry out a terrorist attack. The events for which they were tried took place between December 13, 2023, and May 9, 2024.
According to what was heard in the courtroom, Saadaoui and Hussein believed that they were coordinating the plan with a third man, whom they knew as Farouk, whom they considered an extremist aligned with their ideas. However, Farouk was actually an undercover agent who worked for the British security forces and who allowed the authorities to closely follow every step of the plot.
Greater Manchester Police (GMP) stated that Saadaoui was the main instigator of the plan and maintained that his intentions "could potentially have led to the deadliest terrorist attack in the history of the United Kingdom". Saadaoui, a resident of Abram, Wigan, intended to smuggle four AK-47 assault rifles, two pistols, and around 900 rounds of ammunition.
Months before his arrest, the defendant, a father of two children and originally from Tunisia, had paid a deposit for the weapons and believed that he had arranged their importation with Farouk. In conversations with the undercover agent, he stated that he could obtain weapons through Sweden and expressed his interest in weaponry from Eastern Europe. At the same time, he had bought an air rifle and had visited a shooting range.
Saadaoui was arrested on May 8, 2024, in the parking lot of a hotel in Bolton, when he went to collect part of the weaponry from the trunk of a car. The prosecution indicated that two assault rifles, a semiautomatic pistol, and almost 200 rounds of ammunition were found in the vehicle. The counterterrorism police clarified that the supply and delivery of the weapons were under their control to prevent any risk to the public. Minutes later, Hussein and a third person involved were arrested in other locations.
