Four men admit London Stock Exchange and US embassy bomb plot

LONDON, UK – Four British men inspired by Al Qaeda have admitted plotting a Christmas bomb attack on the London Stock exchange, the US embassy, and the home of London Mayor Boris Johnson.

Mohammed Chowdhury, Shah Rahman, Gurukanth Desai and Abdul Miah, from London and Cardiff, pleaded guilty on Wednesday to engaging in conduct in preparation for acts of terrorism.

Two of the men had conducted a surveillance trip around central London, and had talked about launching a Mumbai-style attack on the British Parliament, according to the Daily Telegraph.

The group’s target list for the December 2010 plot also included an attack on two rabbis. The conspiracy, which would have involved sending mail bombs to the various targets in the run up to Christmas, was stopped by undercover anti-terror police before firm dates could be set for the attacks.

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The four men were among nine defendants facing trial in London over the planned attacks, having been accused of agreeing on targets, discussing materials and methods, and researching files “containing practical instruction for a terrorist attack.”

All nine had initially pleaded not guilty to the charges against them, the AP reported. The other five have since admitted attending planning meetings, raising money for terrorism, and possessing copies of the Al Qaeda magazine Inspire.

The nine men will be sentenced next week, according to the BBC. They were reportedly inspired by the preachings of Anwar Al-Awlaki, an Al Qaeda leader who was killed in a US drone attack in Yemen last year.

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