Blackburn terror accused filmed themselves on military exercise
A home-made film showing two would-be terrorists on military-style manoeuvres crawling across a public park in Blackburn in broad daylight has been played to a jury at Manchester Crown Court.
Abbas Iqbal, 24, his brother Ilyas, 23 and Muhammad Ali Ahmad, a white Muslim convert, were said to be "intoxicated by the evil of terrorism" and planning to carry out jihad, or holy war.
The trio, who styled themselves "The Blackburn Resistance", were said to have studied guerrilla warfare, gathered a stockpile of weapons and a library of jihadist material. Although some of material was comical, the prosecution has suggested, their purpose was wholly serious.
Edward Brown, QC, for the prosecution, suggested that Abbas Iqbal filmed his brother and Ahmad, 26, in the style of typical al-Qaeda propaganda. Their aim was to distribute the material abroad.
The video apparently shows one of the duo carrying a rifle as they "leopard crawl" through Corporation Park, in the centre of the Lancashire town.
Mr Brown said the "promotional collage" for The Blackburn Resistance was among material which Abbas Iqbal had intended to radicalise others.
The video was introduced by a voice stating "They are fighting against oppression, they are The Blackburn Resistance", before it showed two of the group crawling through woodland and across a path in the park.
In the background, someone chants: "I am the armour for those who believe in the unity of Allah. I am the fire against the aggressor.
"I am the machinegun against the one who starts fighting. I am the one whose sun is shining. Over my day and my pride." Video clips of the trio holding and firing weapons while shouting Allah Akbar (God is Great) in a back yard were also found on the storage card, along with photographs of them in camouflaged clothing and carrying weapons.
The Iqbal family home in Blackburn, was later searched. Police discovered a camcorder video tape which showed Abbas Iqbal holding a young boy and raising a machete.
Playing the tape in court, Mr Brown told the jury: "It is plainly a joke and he obviously has no intention of hurting the boy." The boy, aged about eight, is on camera in a room with two girls as Abbas Iqbal holds the weapon and, in Urdu, says: "This is what I am going to do to somebody. God willing, when I find a Kuffar (non-believer), this I show, I am going to take his head off." Mr Brown said that the material was discovered in Abbas’ suitcase when he was arrested at Manchester airport in August 2008, en route to northern Europe with another alleged extremist, who cannot be identified for legal reasons.
Later Mr Ahmad told police that the video was "just a bit of fun
The video was among material found in a mobile phone storage card discovered in the suitcase of Abbas Iqbal when he was arrested trying to board a flight from Manchester Airport to northern Europe in August 2008.
Mr Aqbal was said to have filmed the duo - one of whom was allegedly carrying a rifle as he rustled through the park - training in Blackburn, Lancashire.
Daily Mail Video Report