'Bomb-making' files stored on computer

A computer at the home of one of two Muslim men charged with plotting to cause explosions in the UK contained details of materials needed to make bombs, a court heard on Friday.

Files on Dr Faisal Mostafa's hard drive included one entitled "Mujahideen Explosives Handbook", a jury at Birmingham Crown Court was told.

Another file on the computer was "Guerilla's Arsenal: Advanced Techniques for Making Explosives and Time Delay Bombs", the prosecution alleges.

Colman Treacy QC, prosecuting, told the jury how the material, which he alleged formed a "terrorist's handbook", was discovered on a laptop computer in Barrows Road, Sparkhill, Birmingham.

Mr Mostafa, 37, and his alleged co-conspirator, Moinul Abedin, 31, are said to have used the rented terrace house as a "bomb factory" and storehouse for large quantities of home-made explosives.

MI5 surveillance

Mr Treacy said the computer contained detailed information on how to make and use detonators and other explosives from readily-available household materials.

Much of what was found referred to the explosive HMTD, the raw ingredients for which were found at Barrows Road and in bulk at a business unit, allegedly rented by Mr Abedin under an alias, in Tyseley, Birmingham.

Traces of the explosive were also found on the defendants' clothes and in their homes after their arrest in November 2000, the court was told.

Mr Abedin and Mr Mostafa, of Green Pastures, Stockport, Greater Manchester, both deny a joint charge of conspiracy to cause explosions with intent to endanger life and cause serious injury to property in the UK.

They also face one count each of acting with intent to cause explosions and another joint charge of possession of explosives.

The allegations are said to have occurred between 1 October and 18 November 2000.

'Pivoting Dancer'

Both men were put under surveillance by a team of 15 MI5 operatives and four agents, identified in court only by their code numbers.

The team leader for the operation, who gave evidence from behind a screen to protect his identity, confirmed officers tracked the defendants and recorded sightings of them.

Abedin was given the codename "Pivoting Dancer" while Mostafa was called "Molten Lava", although there was no significance to the names, he told the jury.

Another officer, also only visible to the judge, Mr Justice Hughes, the jury and counsel, told the court that he saw both men at Mr Mostafa's rented accommodation in Coventry Road, Small Heath, Birmingham.

The court heard on Thursday that the surveillance led to both men being arrested after Mr Abedin was seen depositing two refuse sacks outside the Barrows Road address.

Examination of their contents found among other things, traces of HMTD, packaging for tools, chemical substances and electronic devices and discarded surgical gloves.