'Fanatic' guilty of terror training

12 April 2012

A Muslim fanatic who boasted of being "Osama bin London" has been found guilty of leading his own al Qaida-style terrorist cell.

Mohammed Hamid, 50, organised terrorist training camps and encouraged others to murder non-believers from his home in east London. He was joined by Abu Hamza's former right hand man Atilla Ahmet at the head of a loose-knit gang of followers.

A jury at Woolwich Crown Court found Hamid guilty of organising terrorist training and soliciting murder.

Ahmet, the self-styled "emir" of the gang, admitted three counts of soliciting murder at the start of the trial.

Three of their followers, Kibley da Costa, 25, Mohammed Al-Figari, 45, and Kader Ahmed, 20, were found guilty of attending terror camps in the New Forest and at a Berkshire paintballing centre.

Two further members of the gang, Mohammed Kyriacou, 19, and Yassin Mutegombwa, 23, admitted attending terrorist training camps.

The five followers were each jailed for up to four years and 11 months. Hamid and Ahmet will be sentenced on March 7.

The guilty verdicts can only be revealed after reporting restrictions were lifted.

Trial judge Mr Justice Pitchers said Hamid and Ahmet were in very different ways "charismatic and powerful figures".

Sentencing the men, he said other unknown recruits had been sent to Afghanistan for further training by Hamid.

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