British man pleads guilty to planning terror attacks in US, Britain

dpa German Press Agency
Published: Thursday October 12, 2006

London- A 34-year-old British man Thursday pleaded guilty to planning a series of terrorist attacks in Britain and the United States, Woolwich Crown Court in London said. Dhiren Barot, of north London, planned to carry out explosions at buildings in Washington, New York and Newark, which were "designed to kill as many innocent people as possible," the court in south-east London was told.

Prosecutor Edmund Lawson said plans had been found by police on a computer after Barot was arrested in August 2004.

The plans related to attacks on the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank buildings in Washington, the New York Stock Exchange and Citigroup buildings in New York and the Prudential buildings in Newark, New Jersey.

"These being plans to carry out explosions at those premises with no warning, they were basically designed to kill as many innocent people as possible," said Lawson.

The defendant had also plotted to use a radioactive "dirty bomb" intended to cause "injury, fear, terror and chaos" in a series of synchronized attacks in Britain, the prosecutor said.

© 2006 dpa German Press Agency