Target George
Muslim teacher ‘urged fanatics to attack young prince at his new school’
A MOSQUE teacher urged jihadis to attack Prince George at his school and suggested injecting poison into supermarket ice cream, a court heard yesterday.
Husnain Rashid, 32, is accused of setting up an internet channel to provide advice to would-be terrorists on carrying out attacks with poison, chemicals, bombs and knives.
The Islamic State fanatic, who taught at the Mohamadi Mosque in Nelson, Lancashire, suggested targeting four-year-old Prince George at his £18,000-a-year preparatory school.
Rashid allegedly posted the school’s address in Battersea, south-west London on a secret social media channel for Muslim extremists.
Alongside the address was a chilling image of the young prince standing by the black silhouette of a jihadi fighter with the message: ‘Even the royal family will not be left alone.’
The rest of the Royal Family was also on a ‘hitlist’ in a ‘book of terror’ Rashid shared online with followers, the jury heard.
Rashid provided how-to guides for ‘lonewolf’ terror strikes around the world, and suggested ideas for attacks, Woolwich Crown Court in south-east London heard yesterday. Another alleged suggestion was to weld blades to the front of a 4x4 vehicle to cause as much carnage as possible when it was driven at speed through crowds.
Jurors heard Rashid was desperate to travel to Syria and contacted a notorious British jihadi, Omar Ali Hussain, 31, who appeared on BBC Newsnight boasting of fighting with Islamic State in 2015.
Hussain, an IS poster boy who is thought to have been killed last October, worked as a Morrisons security guard in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, before going to Syria in 2013.
He featured in a video for the terror group entitled ‘Message of the Mujahid’, in which he wore camouflage clothing while holding an assault rifle.
Rashid allegedly gave battlefield tips to Hussain, who called himself Abu Saeed Al Britani, advising him how to bringing down aircraft with lasers and weaken enemy defences by jamming missile systems.
Prosecutor Annabel Darlow described Rashid’s internet channel, called Lone Mujahid, as an ‘e-toolkit for terrorism’, specialising in giving solitary terrorists assistance with ‘every conceivable type of attack’.
She told jurors: ‘Husnain Rashid, between October 2016 and his arrest in November 2017, utilised a number of online channels and chat groups to post an immense volume of terrorist-related material. The overarching aim of his activities was to provide a wealth of online material – an e-toolkit for terrorism – for those preparing to commit acts of terror and to offer as much assistance, encouragement and support as he was able.
‘His proposals were indiscriminate and made no distinction between adult and child, between members of fighting forces and civilians.’
She added: ‘His suggestions included injecting poison into supermarket ice creams and targeting Prince George at his first school.
‘He provided an unstoppable and hate-filled flow of encouragement for others to commit acts of terror... attacks with vehicles, explosive devices, bombs, chemicals – any attack you can imagine one person committing on their own.
‘He made numerous posts glorifying terrorist atrocities committed successfully against others and encouraging and inciting his readers to plan and commit more successful terror attacks of their own.’
Among the targets he allegedly identified was the Burmese ambassador to the UK, telling followers: ‘You know what to do’, the court heard.
Other targets included the Halloween Parade in New York and railway stations in Australia, Miss Darlow said.
Rashid was consulted by terrorists around the globe seeking advice on poisons and explosives, and he was also working on an online magazine to be named The Lone Mujahid, the court was told.
He sent 290,000 messages on encrypted Telegram chat groups – calling himself Repunzel – before he was arrested at his home last November.
When police raided his house, Rashid is said to have hurled a phone containing the ‘treasure trove’ of evidence into an alley.
He denies encouraging terrorism, three counts of engaging in conduct in preparation of terrorist acts, two of dissemination of a terrorist publication, and failing to comply with a notice under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act.
The trial continues.
‘Put poison in shop ice cream’