Kafeel Ahmed

Kafeel Ahmed, aka Khalid Ahmed and Khaled Ahmad, (1 January 1979 – 2 August 2007)cite news|title = ...A rank holder & brilliant speaker|publisher = The Times of India|date = 2007-07-06|accessdate = 2007-07-06|url = http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/A_rank_holder__brilliant_speaker/articleshow/2179633.cms] was an Indian Muslim born in Bangalore, India and raised in Saudi Arabia during his doctor parents' tenure there.cite news|title = Ties that bind terror car bomb suspects |publisher = The Daily Telegraph|date = 2007-07-05|accessdate = 2007-07-05|url = http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/07/05/nterror205.xml] He was an engineer who was studying for a PhD in computational fluid dynamics. He was often mistakenly referred to as a medical doctor.cite news|title = Glasgow Airport attack man dies|publisher = BBC News|date = 2007-08-02|accessdate = 2007-08-02|url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/glasgow_and_west/6928854.stm] He was arrested in Great Britain in the aftermath of the 2007 Glasgow International Airport attack. He was held hospitalized at the Glasgow Royal Infirmary in a critical condition, after he suffered severe burns in the attack. He had suffered burns to 90% of his body, and was not expected to survive—he had already been revived twice as of July 4.cite news|title = Ringleader 'Al-Qaeda sleeper'|publisher = CourierMail.com.au|date = 2007-07-04|accessdate = 2007-07-04|url = http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,22020874-952,00.html] "The Sun" reported Britain's National Health Service was paying over £5,000 a day to keep him alive, while security sources said this amount reaches £30,000 when security costs are included.

Mobile phone records have shown that, during his 2005-2007 stay in India, Ahmed had frequent communications with Malta, the UK, Finland, Saudi Arabia and Oman.cite news|title =Glasgow airport bomber communicated with Malta|publisher= Malta Media|date = 2007-07-15|accessdate = 2007-07-15|url = http://www.maltamedia.com/artman2/publish/local/article_2684.shtml] In May 2007, prior to departing to Britain from his native Bangalore, he entrusted his mother with a compact disk he said contained some important information on his "project." The disk has been handed over to police for analysis.cite news|title = 'Secret data' found on Kafeel's hard disk|publisher = The Times of India|date = 2007-07-10|accessdate = 2007-07-10|url = http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Secret_data_found_on_Kafeels_hard_disk/articleshow/2191591.cms] Although the analysis is not yet complete, it had been revealed that the disk contained speeches by al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, propaganda against the United States and Britaincite news|title =Bin Laden speeches found in Kafeel Ahmed’s house in Bangalore = Internationalreporter.com|date = 2007-07-10|accessdate = 2007-07-10|url = http://internationalreporter.com/News-2370/Bin-Laden-speeches-found-in-Kafeel-Ahmed%E2%80%99s-house-in-Bangalore.html] , some Jihad literature and the plight of the Muslims in Iraq, Afghanistan and Chechnya. It transpired that Ahmed attentively followed campaigns in Iraq, Afghanistan and Palestine, and frequented Islamist chat rooms on the internet. Digital material found included graphic depictions of real-life occurrences of torture in Chechnya, hundreds of bomb design from the internet, and evidence that he used the Bangalore-based political platform, "Discover Islam", for the purposes of recruitment.cite news|title = Glimpses into the mind of suicide-bomber |publisher = The Hindu|date = 2007-07-14|accessdate = 2007-07-14|url = http://www.hindu.com/2007/07/14/stories/2007071450030100.htm]

Kafeel was the brother of Dr. Sabeel Ahmed, also arrested in the aftermath of the attack.cite news|title = Ties that bind terror car bomb suspects |publisher = The Daily Telegraph|date = 2007-07-05|accessdate = 2007-07-05|url = http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/07/05/nterror205.xml] A suicide note left behind indicates that the passenger of the vehicle, Bilal Abdullah, and himself, intended to die in the attack.cite news|title = Glasgow suspects left suicide note|publisher = The Australian|date = 2007-07-06|accessdate = 2007-07-06|url = http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,22026060-601,00.html]

According to police sources, he was an engineer pursuing a Ph.D. in computational fluid dynamics at Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge, in the UK, on the topic of "Computational Approach to Ink-jet Printing of Tactile Maps." He would have earned a bachelor of mechanical engineering from India, and an M.Phil. degree in aeronautical engineering from Queen's University Belfast. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/6278858.stm NI police aid MI5 on airport case] , BBC News, 6 July 2007, accessed 7 July 2007] He might have been in the UK as early as September 2003. He is believed to have organized a Chechnya Day Meeting in his native city of Bangalore, back in February 2006.cite news|title = Police joining the dots: Kafeel held Chechnya meet in Bangalore, the Net has fingerprints |publisher = The Indian Express|date = 2007-07-05|accessdate = 2007-07-05|url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/07/05/nterror205.xml]

As an aeronautics engineer, Ahmed was able to secure employment, from December 2005, to August 2006, with Infotech, an Indian outsourcing company servicing clients such as Airbus and Boeing, before resigning abruptly.cite news|title = Glasgow suspect worked for blue chip company|publisher = TimesOnline|date = 2007-07-10|accessdate = 2007-07-10|url = http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article2054167.ece] It could be possible that he had access to sensitive design information about various aviation companies.cite news|title = New twist to Kafeel probe|publisher = TimeNOW.tv|date = 2007-07-10|accessdate = 2007-07-10|url = http://www.timesnow.tv/Sections/News/New_twist_to_Kafeel_probe/articleshow/2191515.cms]

He was a member of the Tablighi Jamaat missionary sect.cite news|title = Sabeel, Kafeel had joined Tabligi Jamaat: Bangalore police|publisher = Hindustan Times|date = 2007-07-06|accessdate = 2007-07-06|url =http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/FullcoverageStoryPage.aspx?id=0e3a36c1-06ca-40dd-a1d3-5ed87ac5e93dindiandocsinukterrorplot_Special&&Headline=Sabeel%2c+Kafeel+had+joined+Tabligi+Jamaat%3a+Bangalore+police]

There are indications that Kafeel Ahmed and Bilal Abdullah were behind the 2007 London car bombs plot, and investigations are being carried out to unearth a possible involvement with the deadly 2005 Indian Institute of Science shooting, an attack with unknown suspects that are still at large.cite news|title =Bangalore terror link puts IISc attack under scanner = ibnlive.com|date = 2007-07-10|accessdate = 2007-07-10|url = http://www.ibnlive.com/news/bangalore-terror-link-puts-iisc-attack-under-scanner/44429-3.html] A Rediff news report reveals that Ahmed was planning on constructing a housing complex on the outskirts of Bangalore where Islamic Sharia law would be forcibly implemented on residents, despite India's secular constitution and separation of religion and state. In January this year, Kafeel had disrupted a meeting organised by a Bangalore-based organisation to discuss reform in IslamFact|date=September 2007. Prior to his terrorist attack in Glasgow, he had visited numerous Islamist websites, including that of the Jamaat al Dawa, the parent organization of Islamic terrorist outfit Lashkar-e-Toiba. [ [http://ia.rediff.com/news/2007/jul/16glasgow5.htm Kafeel's dream was to build housing complex where Sharia would rule] , Rediff]

On 2 August 2007, Strathclyde Police reported that Ahmed had died in the Glasgow Royal Infirmary. His last rituals will be held in UK rather than in his hometown of Bangalore.

References

ee also

* 2007 UK terrorist incidents

External links

* [http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-6755255,00.html British Terror Probe Focuses on Doctors]
* [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/07/03/nterror1803.xml Glasgow bombers 'also behind London attacks']
* [http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-23402861-details/Police+track+bomb+plotters+by+email+across+the+world/article.do NHS terror plot: police investigate global email network used by 'bombers']