Source: AFP

LONDON (AFP) — A 29-year-old dentist was jailed in London on Tuesday after admitting planning to travel to Pakistan to carry out unspecified acts of terrorism.

Sohail Qureshi, who was sentenced to four and a half years, was detained at London Heathrow Airport in October 2006 carrying thousands of pounds in cash, as well as a night sight, medical supplies and computer material.

Prosecutor Jonathan Sharp told the Old Bailey central criminal court that Qureshi intended to fly to Islamabad for a “two- to three-week operation” either in Afghanistan, Pakistan, or its Waziristan region, on the border between the two countries.

“Pray that I kill many, brother. Revenge, revenge, revenge,” wrote Qureshi, according to Internet traffic intercepted by police and released at the court hearing.

“Sohail Qureshi is a dedicated supporter of Islamist extremism,” said Sharp, after Qureshi pleaded guilty to preparing for terrorism under Section 5 of the Terrorism Act 2006, the first conviction under this legal section.

He also admitted possessing an article for a terrorist purpose and possessing a record likely to be useful in terrorism, although the details were not immediately clear.

Qureshi, who lived in London, was in e-mail contact with Samina Malik, the so-called “lyrical terrorist” who was given a suspended jail sentence last year after being found guilty of storing a library of material for terrorism.

Malik earned her nickname because she wrote poems about martyrdom and beheading unbelievers.

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Tags: Extremism, Heathrow, London, terrorism