Two men jailed for life in UK over ISIS-inspired gun plot to kill Jews
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A police surveillance image shows Amar Hussein (left) and Walid Saadaoui.
PHOTO: REUTERS
- Two men were jailed for life in February for planning an Islamic State-inspired gun attack on a Jewish gathering in northern England.
- Walid Saadaoui and Amar Hussein intended to smuggle AK-47s and conducted surveillance before police intervened in May 2024.
- The judge stated this plot could have been "one of the deadliest terror attacks ever carried out on British soil."
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LONDON - A UK court on Feb jailed two men for life for planning an Islamic State-inspired gun attack on a Jewish gathering in northern England.
Walid Saadaoui, 38, and Amar Hussein, 52, intended to target an anti-Semitism march in Manchester before killing more Jews in the north of the city.
Their deadly plan was thwarted when they revealed it to an undercover operative posing as a like-minded extremist who could help import weapons.
A judge at Preston Crown Court sentenced Saadaoui, originally from Tunisia, to serve a minimum of 37 years in custody.
Hussein, a Kuwaiti, will serve at least 26 years.
Their trial in 2025 heard evidence that Saadaoui hero-worshipped Abdelhamid Abaaoud - an Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) recruiter and ringleader for the November 2015 Paris attacks
A jury convicted Saadaoui and Hussein
Judge Michael Wall told the defendants that if the plot had succeeded, it would “likely have been one of the deadliest terror attacks ever carried out on British soil”.
Main instigator Saadaoui had aimed to smuggle four AK-47 assault rifles, two handguns and 900 rounds of ammunition into the UK.
Weapons seized from the home of Walid Saadaoui.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Saadaoui also travelled to north Manchester to carry out surveillance on Jewish nurseries, schools, synagogues and shops.
Authorities began to investigate him after he used 10 Facebook accounts in fake names to post Islamic extremist views.
A weapon seized from the home of Walid Saadaoui, who hero-worshipped Abdelhamid Abaaoud - ringleader for the 2015 Paris attacks in which 130 people were killed.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Counter-terrorism police intervened in May 2024 in an operation involving over 200 officers.
Saadaoui was arrested at a hotel car park after he went to collect some firearms, which had been intercepted and deactivated. AFP
