Couple ‘plotted Mother of Satan bomb after meeting on Muslim dating website’
A couple plotted an Islamic State- inspired attack on Britain with a ‘Mother of Satan’ homemade bomb after meeting on a Muslim dating website, a court heard yesterday.
Pharmacist Rowaida el-Hassan allegedly advised Munir Mohammed about bomb making and the deadly poison ricin after falling for the jihadi.
He had seen her dating profile on SingleMuslim. com which pleaded for a lover who can ‘teach me new things and inspire me’.
In a case which prosecutors said ‘demonstrates the relative ease with which acts of terrorism can be prepared, thanks to the internet’, they were soon sharing IS beheading videos and bonding over their extremist beliefs.
Her refugee boyfriend then progressed to looking up videos about bomb making on Facebook and YouTube, jurors heard.
He claimed to be a single British geophysicist, but was in fact a married Sudanese factory worker who was still trying to bring his wife here after arriving in Britain three years ago.
Smitten el-Hassan, 33, loaned Mohammed, 36, cash after discovering he was working for a ready meals business using false identity documents and the driving licence of another Sudanese man.
Despite his lies, they plotted to carry out a bomb attack in the UK and Mohammed already had two of the three components to make the high explosive bomb, known as ‘Mother of Satan’.
He also had instruction manuals on preparing explosives, mobile phone detonators and ricin by the time he was caught, the old Bailey heard.
Anne Whyte Qc, prosecuting, said the lovers were ‘plainly ideologically suited’ and used the internet to ‘ fuel each other’s beliefs’. She said: ‘ This is a case which reflects the age in which we live. It demonstrates the relative ease with which acts of terrorism can be prepared, thanks to the internet. The prosecution allege that Munir Mohammed had resolved upon a lone wolf attack and Rowaida el-Hassan was aware of his engagement with such a plan. Rowaida el-Hassan had a professional knowledge of chemicals because of her professional training and qualifications.
‘She assisted Mohammed by providing him with information about chemical components required for bomb making and
‘I hear voice of bin Laden’
how to source them and she assisted his online research about the manufacture of ricin.’
Their romance started after Mohammed posted an online dating profile claiming to be a physicist who was looking for a wife to have children with.
The wording allegedly caught the eye of newly divorced el-Hassan who wrote: ‘I am looking for a simple, very simple, honest and straightforward man who fears Allah before anything else.
‘I am looking for a man I can vibe with on a spiritual and intellectual level. Someone who can teach me new things and inspire me.’
The court heard Mohammed had been radicalised by an IS commander in Syria called Abubakr Kurdi, who used Facebook to call for ‘lone wolf attacks’.
on September 16 last year Mohammed contacted Kurdi, saying: ‘If possible send how we make dough for Syrian bread and other types of food’, jurors heard.
prosecutors say ‘dough’ was a reference to explosives, while bread referred to the device.
A day before their arrest, el-Hassan messaged Mohammed: ‘This is the first time I hear the voice of osama bin laden, may God have mercy on him.’
When their homes were raided on December 12, police found a hydrogen peroxide bottle stashed in his wardrobe and hydrochloric acid, the court heard.
Mohammed, of Derby, and el-Hassan, of Willesden, north-west london, deny preparation of terrorist acts between November 18, 2015, and December 13 last year. The case continues.