A British Muslim linked to shoe-bomber Richard Reid has been charged with maliciously conspiring to cause an explosion, along with two further charges of possessing explosive materials.
Gloucester-born Sajid Badat, 24, who spent five years in Pakistan, is accused of plotting with Reid, who is currently serving a life sentence in the United States after trying to blow up a transatlantic jet with explosives hidden in his footwear.
He was overpowered by some of the 197 passengers and crew aboard the American Airlines flight from Paris to Miami, after attempting to light the fuse.
The charges against Badat do not specify whether they are directly linked to Reid's conviction, saying only that he unlawfully and maliciously conspired with Reid and "others unknown to cause by an explosive device an explosion of a nature likely to endanger life or cause serious injury to property in the United Kingdom or elsewhere" between September 1, 2001, and November 28, 2003.
Since Badat's arrest in Gloucester last Thursday, anti-terrorist police have disclosed they are dealing with two categories of what they describe as the 'enemy within'. Those falling into the first category are born in Britain and grow up within the local community without any record of sympathising with Islamic fundamentalists until they are recruited and trained abroad by supporters of terrorist networks.
The other category, well known to readers of spy fiction, is the 'sleeper', who is recruited at an early stage of his life and is told to wait until he is activated.
"The UK has been used as a good recruiting ground for the extremist networks. It is clear that individuals from the UK or based in the UK have been radicalised in the UK, recruited and sent for terrorist training by individuals or networks operating in the UK, fought in Bosnia, Chechnya and directly involved in terrorist operations against the UK," warns a Home Office analysis.
Since Badat's arrest it has emerged he was under surveillance for more than a year after his return from Pakistan and Afghanistan where he trained at the Khalden camp, one of 18 camps run by Osama Bin Laden's Al Qa'eda network.
"The whole family is in total shock. We really didn't think he would ever be charged. As far as we are concerned he is just a normal young man who is very dedicated to his religion but did not express any views of an extreme nature in any way," said one of Badat's cousins settled in the UK.
Since Badat's arrest UK police have detained for questioning some 14 other individuals in the biggest crackdown since the September 11 attacks. An unemployed Algerian, Noureddine Mouleff from Eastbourne, has also since been arrested and charged with possessing articles connected to the commission, preparation or instigation of terrorism.
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