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CNN Live At Daybreak
British Man Charged With Conspiring With Shoe Bomber
Aired December 04, 2003 - 06:33 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: To the war on terror. A suspected terrorist will appear in a London courtroom today. He's charged with conspiring in an explosives plot with convicted shoe bomber, Richard Reid.
Let's take you live to London now and Matthew Chance.
Hello -- Matthew.
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Carol, hello to you as well.
In fact, there are some very interesting connections that are being made by British police investigating terrorist activities in this country.
Sajid Badat is the 24-year-old British man from Gloucester in the west of England, who, just a few moments ago inside this courthouse behind me, was remanded in custody until December the 11th on three charges: two of possession of explosives and a much more controversial one of conspiring with Richard Reid, better known as the "shoe bomber," to cause an explosion.
Badat was arrested in his hometown of Gloucester on November the 27th. Police say a small but significant amount of explosives was also found in his house.
Richard Reid, as you may remember, was convicted earlier this year and sentenced to life imprisonment for attempting to blow up a U.S. airliner en route from Paris to Miami.
What's not clear at this stage is the exact relationship between the two men, whether Badat actually assisted in the planning of that attempted bombing of the airliner that was undertaken by Richard Reid, or indeed whether Sajid Badat himself was intending to use the explosives that they found in his premises to carry out a separate attack against another aircraft -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Are British authorities looking for more suspects in this case as well, Matthew?
CHANCE: Well, they say there are a number of investigations going on around the country, and indeed over the course of last week or so, we've seen about 20 arrests -- more than 20, in fact -- arrests of various people in various parts of the country.
British intelligence officials say they've intercepted new and fresh intelligence, which indicates to them that there is an al Qaeda plot to carry out some kind of an attack on the British mainland.
Those fears have been compounded, say the peace and security sources that we've spoken to, by the fact that last month in Turkey, British interests -- the British Consulate, a London-based bank -- were targeted in a bomb attack -- in a number of bomb attacks in that Turkish city. They say that indicates to them that there may well be a very serious threat, an attack being planned on the British mainland as we approach the holiday period.
COSTELLO: Matthew Chance live in London, many thanks.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
Aired December 4, 2003 - 06:33 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: To the war on terror. A suspected terrorist will appear in a London courtroom today. He's charged with conspiring in an explosives plot with convicted shoe bomber, Richard Reid.
Let's take you live to London now and Matthew Chance.
Hello -- Matthew.
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Carol, hello to you as well.
In fact, there are some very interesting connections that are being made by British police investigating terrorist activities in this country.
Sajid Badat is the 24-year-old British man from Gloucester in the west of England, who, just a few moments ago inside this courthouse behind me, was remanded in custody until December the 11th on three charges: two of possession of explosives and a much more controversial one of conspiring with Richard Reid, better known as the "shoe bomber," to cause an explosion.
Badat was arrested in his hometown of Gloucester on November the 27th. Police say a small but significant amount of explosives was also found in his house.
Richard Reid, as you may remember, was convicted earlier this year and sentenced to life imprisonment for attempting to blow up a U.S. airliner en route from Paris to Miami.
What's not clear at this stage is the exact relationship between the two men, whether Badat actually assisted in the planning of that attempted bombing of the airliner that was undertaken by Richard Reid, or indeed whether Sajid Badat himself was intending to use the explosives that they found in his premises to carry out a separate attack against another aircraft -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Are British authorities looking for more suspects in this case as well, Matthew?
CHANCE: Well, they say there are a number of investigations going on around the country, and indeed over the course of last week or so, we've seen about 20 arrests -- more than 20, in fact -- arrests of various people in various parts of the country.
British intelligence officials say they've intercepted new and fresh intelligence, which indicates to them that there is an al Qaeda plot to carry out some kind of an attack on the British mainland.
Those fears have been compounded, say the peace and security sources that we've spoken to, by the fact that last month in Turkey, British interests -- the British Consulate, a London-based bank -- were targeted in a bomb attack -- in a number of bomb attacks in that Turkish city. They say that indicates to them that there may well be a very serious threat, an attack being planned on the British mainland as we approach the holiday period.
COSTELLO: Matthew Chance live in London, many thanks.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
