Man 'wanted girl to wed militant'

The jury was told that Khan was at the centre of a terror cell

A Birmingham man who has admitted plotting to kidnap and behead a British soldier wanted his daughter to marry a militant fighter, a court has heard.

The daughter of Parviz Khan was only three, but he was recorded telling a friend: "She'll marry into them and give birth to them".

Transcripts featuring the voices of Khan and his co-accused Zahoor Iqbal were read to Leicester Crown Court.

Iqbal, 30, and Amjad Mahmood, 32, are on trial for terror offences.

Khan, 37, an unemployed charity worker from Birmingham, has pleaded guilty to plotting to kidnap and kill a British Muslim soldier between 2 April 2006 and 1 February 2007.

The jury has heard that Khan, of Alum Rock, intended to use drug dealers to kidnap the soldier while the man was on a night out.

Khan then intended to behead the serviceman in a lock-up garage and release footage of the killing to the public.

He also said he intended to supply equipment to mujahideen militants on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.

His admissions can only now be reported because the trial of Iqbal and Mahmood has begun. They were among several men arrested in a series of raids in Birmingham at the end of January last year, after an investigation led by West Midlands Police Counter-Terrorism Unit.

Mr Mahmood and Mr Iqbal deny involvement

Mahmood,, of Alum Rock, Birmingham, denies knowing about Khan's plot and failing to disclose information about it, while Iqbal, of Perry Barr in Birmingham, denies possessing a computer disc called Encyclopaedia Jihad, which would be likely to be useful to a terrorist.

Both men have also pleaded not guilty to helping Khan supply equipment to terrorists in Pakistan.

I just understood him to be waffling on, and fantasising Zahoor Khan

After playing the recording of the conversation between Zahoor Iqbal and Parviz Khan to the court, Nigell Rumfitt QC, for the prosecution, told the court "He wants his daughter to marry a Mujahideen terrorist ... that is about as sick as it gets".

Iqbal replied that he thought his friend "had paranoia". "I just understood him to be waffling on and fantasising - that sort of thing", he said.

Gassama, Irfan and Elasmar admit some offences

Three other men, Basiru Gassama, 30, Mohammed Irfan, 31, and Hamid Elasmar, 44, have admitted further offences connected with Khan's plot. Khan had wanted Gassama, a Gambian national, to help identify the victim of the plot, the court heard.

Irfan and Elasmar have pleaded guilty to helping Khan supply equipment, while Gassama, of Hodge Hill, Birmingham, has admitted knowing about the plot and not telling anyone.