Mohammad Sidique Khan

Mohammad Sidique Khan (born October 20, 1974 in Leeds - † July 7, 2005 in London ) was the oldest of the four suicide bombers in the terrorist attacks on July 7, 2005 in London , in which 56 people (including the four suicide bombers) were killed and over 700 some were seriously injured.

Life

Khan was born at St James University Hospital in Leeds and grew up in Beeston. In early 2005 he moved to Dewsbury , near Leeds. He went to South Leeds High School (formerly Matthew Murray High School) which was also attended by Hasib Hussain , who carried out the bombing on the bus. Khan then began studying at Leeds Metropolitan University.

From 1999 he came under the influence of the radical Muslim clergyman Abdullah el-Faisal .

Khan worked at Hillside Elementary School in Leeds as a learning mentor with children from families who had just come to the UK. Khan's colleagues got to know him as a rather calm person who did not talk about his religious and political views.

Khan also worked for a youth program at the Hamara Healthy Living Center in Beeston, the Hamara Youth Access Point (HYAP). Staff confirmed that two of the attackers - Shehzad Tanweer and Hasib Hussain - also took part in the HYAP. Khan used the project as a recruiting center.

Khan is said to have postponed the attacks for a day because he had to accompany his pregnant wife to a hospital.

The London attacks

On the morning of July 7, 2005, Khan drove to Luton in Bedfordshire with his three accomplices . There the four boarded a train to London's King's Cross station . From there, Khan entered the London Underground and boarded a train on the Circle Line . He traveled four stops to Edgware Road. The bomb he was carrying detonated at 8:50 am, just as the train was leaving the station. Documents from Khan were found on the train.

A video showing Khan was released on September 1, 2005. The video, broadcast by Al Jazeera , also features al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri . The two men are not seen together on the video and the UK government denies any connection between the bombings and al-Qaeda. The Home Office believes the video was edited after the suicide attack and therefore does not see it as evidence of al-Qaeda involvement.

Intelligence Findings

Khan is said to have regularly visited training camps in Pakistan and Afghanistan . He is also said to have spent some time in Israel . In 2001, Khan is said to have learned how to make bombs at a training camp in the Malakand district of Pakistan. He is said to have trained with the Indonesian terrorist group Jemaah Islamiyah and to have been involved in the 2002 Bali attack.

The Israeli newspaper Maariv reported that Khan went to Israel on February 19, 2003. However, he is said to have only spent one night there. He is suspected of being involved in the planning of the April 30, 2003 suicide attack on Mike's Place bar in Tel Aviv. Three Israelis were killed in the attack, carried out by two British citizens of Pakistani descent. The government of Israel allegedly downplayed the report.

According to a report by David Leppard in the Sunday Times , Khan was also noticed by MI5 in 2004 when his name came up during an investigation. His connection to a planned attack with a car bomb was investigated. According to MI5, this connection should have been rather indirect, so that Khan was no longer monitored. MI5 was later criticized for not following the trail of Khan. The secret service rejected these allegations.

According to reports from the US secret services, Khan Mohammed Junaid Babar is said to have been known. Babar pleaded guilty to a US court of supporting al-Qaeda. Babar reportedly worked on plans for attacks on pubs, restaurants and train stations in the UK. Babar is said to have met Khan in Pakistan.

On July 18, 2005, the Pakistani government released a video dated November 19, 2004 showing Khan arriving at Karachi Airport . Shehzad Tanweer was also on the video. Both use Turkish Airlines flight TK 1056. Khan and Tanweer stayed in Pakistan until February 8, 2005 before flying back to London together. The third assassin, 18-year-old Hasib Hussain , landed in Karachi on July 15, 2004. The departure airport of his flight SV 714 was the Saudi Arabian city of Riyadh .

Web links

The bomber and his brother. In: The time of July 7, 2007.

Individual evidence

↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d Mentor to the young and vulnerable . In: The Guardian , July 14, 2005. Retrieved April 20, 2012.
^ Mark S. Hamm: Terrorism As Crime: From Oklahoma City to Al-Qaeda and Beyond (= Alternative criminology series ). NYU Press, New York 2007, ISBN 978-0-8147-3745-3 , pp. 204-205 ( books.google.com ).
^ Daniel McGrory: Killer in the classroom . In: The Times , July 14, 2005. Archived from the original on January 9, 2006. Retrieved April 12, 2009.
↑ The 6/7 bombers: Revealed, how terror attacks were delayed a day as ringleader took pregnant wife to hospital.
↑ Mark Townsend: Leak reveals official story of London bombings . In: The Observer , April 9, 2006. Retrieved April 11, 2009.
↑ The jihadi house parties of hate: Britain's terror network offered an easy target the security services missed, says Shiv Malik. ( Memento from July 25, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
^ Ian Munro: London bomb link to Bali mastermind . In: The Age , October 27, 2005. Retrieved April 12, 2009.
^ Dan Williams: London bomber visited Israel - Israeli official , Reuters . July 18, 2005. Archived from the original on July 21, 2005.
↑ ^a ^b David Leppard: MI5 judged bomber 'no threat' . In: The Times , July 17, 2005. Archived from the original on May 13, 2006. Retrieved April 12, 2009.
↑ David Leppard, Richard Woods: Spies 'hid' bomber tape from MPs . In: The Times , May 14, 2006. Archived from the original on May 11, 2008. Retrieved November 21, 2007.
↑ Links between the July 7 bombers and the fertilizer plotters . MI5. Archived from the original on August 14, 2007. Retrieved April 12, 2009.
^ Luke Harding: Pakistan militants linked to London attacks . In: The Guardian , July 19, 2005. Retrieved March 3, 2007.

personal data
SURNAME	Khan, Mohammad Sidique
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	British suspected terrorist
DATE OF BIRTH	20th October 1974
PLACE OF BIRTH	Leeds , West Yorkshire , England , United Kingdom
DATE OF DEATH	July 7, 2005
Place of death	London , England , UK

[Guardian-1] Mentor to the young and vulnerable . In: The Guardian , July 14, 2005. Retrieved April 20, 2012.

[2] Mark S. Hamm: Terrorism As Crime: From Oklahoma City to Al-Qaeda and Beyond (= Alternative criminology series ). NYU Press, New York 2007, ISBN 978-0-8147-3745-3 , pp. 204-205 ( books.google.com ).

[3] Daniel McGrory: Killer in the classroom . In: The Times , July 14, 2005. Archived from the original on January 9, 2006. Retrieved April 12, 2009.

[4] The 6/7 bombers: Revealed, how terror attacks were delayed a day as ringleader took pregnant wife to hospital.

[5] Mark Townsend: Leak reveals official story of London bombings . In: The Observer , April 9, 2006. Retrieved April 11, 2009.

[6] The jihadi house parties of hate: Britain's terror network offered an easy target the security services missed, says Shiv Malik. ( Memento from July 25, 2008 in the Internet Archive )

[7] Ian Munro: London bomb link to Bali mastermind . In: The Age , October 27, 2005. Retrieved April 12, 2009.

[8] Dan Williams: London bomber visited Israel - Israeli official , Reuters . July 18, 2005. Archived from the original on July 21, 2005.

[Times-9] David Leppard: MI5 judged bomber 'no threat' . In: The Times , July 17, 2005. Archived from the original on May 13, 2006. Retrieved April 12, 2009.

[10] David Leppard, Richard Woods: Spies 'hid' bomber tape from MPs . In: The Times , May 14, 2006. Archived from the original on May 11, 2008. Retrieved November 21, 2007.

[11] Links between the July 7 bombers and the fertilizer plotters . MI5. Archived from the original on August 14, 2007. Retrieved April 12, 2009.

[12] Luke Harding: Pakistan militants linked to London attacks . In: The Guardian , July 19, 2005. Retrieved March 3, 2007.