Islamic Supremacist Erol Incedal Arrested for UK Terror Plot That Included Possible Attack on Tony Blair

British police have arrested Erol Incedal for plotting to slaughter non-Muslims. Where's Ben Affleck to tell British police to stop being so racist?

Erol Incedal in court

National Post—When police pulled over Erol Incedal’s car for what seemed like a routine traffic offence a year ago, it was a key moment in a case that would make British legal history.

Unbeknown to Mr. Incedal, 26, the officers who ran the rule over his black Mercedes secretly planted a hidden listening device, starting a chain of events that led to the first terrorism trial to be held largely in secret in a British court.

Tuesday, in one of the only parts of the trial to be heard in open court, a jury was told that Mr. Incedal had the address of Tony and Cherie Blair in his car and may have been planning an attack on an “individual of significance” or a more indiscriminate attack modelled on the 2008 Mumbai terrorist atrocity.

Lawyer Richard Whittam, opening the case for the prosecution, told members of the jury at the Old Bailey that they were part of an “exceptional” trial, the majority of which will be heard behind closed doors.

He said the bug planted in Mr. Incedal’s car recorded him saying: “I hate white people” and telling his wife he might have to switch to “plan B” after his car was searched.

When he was arrested two weeks after the initial “traffic offence” on Sept 30 last year, police seized material including a memory card containing a bomb-making manual.

Mr. Whittam said: “You will hear that he was actively engaged with another or others who were abroad. The prosecution case is that such engagement was for an act, or acts, of terrorism either against a limited number of individuals of significance or a more wide-ranging and indiscriminate attack such as the one in Mumbai in 2008.”

Referring to the piece of paper containing the Blairs’ address, Mr. Whittam said that although Mr. Incedal had not decided on a particular target or methodology, the address may “have some significance.”

Tony and Cherie Blair

Mr. Incedal denies preparing acts of terrorism and possessing a document titled Bomb Making.

The prosecution’s opening speech gave a rare insight into the tactics used by anti-terrorism police in gathering evidence against suspects.

The jury was told that the officers searched the car and found various items of interest, including the address for one of Mr. and Mrs Blair’s homes hidden inside a white Versace spectacles case. Also found was an Acer laptop computer, a pocket notebook and a USB dongle. Without the knowledge of Mr. Incedal, who was unable to see what was going on, the officers took photographs of the evidence but did not remove anything from the vehicle. Mr. Incedal was then allowed to go on his way.

Mr. Incedal’s encounter with the law unsettled him, it is alleged, but he appeared to have no inkling that a bug had been planted, the jury heard.

In the two weeks that followed, Mr. Incedal was recorded expressing concern that his alleged plot might have been thwarted.

The court heard that he told his wife: “Made a big mistake. There was some very important stuff in the car. If they found it, we’re f––.”

The listening device also recorded him saying: “I hate white people so much. I might have to destroy everything and do something else, Plan B.

“These pigs. I just feel like running them over. Everyone, even the kuffar, call them pigs.”

The jury was told that the listening device had picked up a reference to running an illegal house and a suggestion that it was “too dangerous” to carry rucksacks. Snippets of chatter also included references to Osama Bin Laden, fatwa, Syria and jihad.

Music was being played in the background that referred to “slaughter, looking at the enemy and looking at the bodies.”

The next time Mr. Incedal encountered the police, at 7.12pm on Oct 13 last year, the circumstances were rather different.

Again his car was stopped, but this time armed officers shot out the tires of the Mercedes on the approach to Tower Bridge to prevent him trying to drive away as he was arrested on suspicion of terrorism offences.

Once again, the car was searched. Hidden between his iPhone and its protective case was a memory card wrapped in masking tape that contained three files relating to “bomb making,” the jury was told.

They included references to latex gloves, goggles, chemicals to use and a description of how to use ground down matchstick heads. There was also a “rather comical” drawing of a bomb going off in the back of a car, said Richard Whittam QC, prosecuting.

The iPhone had been used to search the internet for “Islamic State of Iraq” in both English and Arabic.

Handwritten notes in a pocket notebook stated: “Fight those of the infidels who are near to you and why do you not fight in Allah’s cause for those oppressed men, women and children who cry out ’Lord rescue us from this town’?.” (Continue Reading.)

Uh oh. Someone's been reading the Qur'an. To understand the Islamic view of unbelievers, watch this: