Islamic fanatic 'wanted to groom his three-year-old daughter to marry a terrorist'

The fanatic who plotted to kidnap and behead a British soldier wanted his three-year-old daughter to marry a jihadi terrorist, a court heard.Terrorist cell leader Parviz Khan, 37, was secretly recorded in his home telling friend Zahoor Iqbal how the toddler talked about cooking food for the "men in the mountains" .Khan added: "Inshallah (God willing) - she'll marry into them and give birth to them".But Iqbal, who is on trial accused of helping Khan send equipment to be used by extremists in Afghanistan, denied Khan was talking about Mujahideen insurgents.Nigel Rumfitt, QC, prosecuting, told him: "That is as sick as it gets."He wants his three-year-old daughter to marry Mujahideen terrorists and give birth to more of them."That is what he is training her to want by asking her what she will cook for them in the mountains."But Iqbal told the jury at Leicester Crown Court that Khan meant he wanted his daughter to marry an Afghan mountain villager.Iqbal added that he never suspected Khan was sending equipment to Al-Qaeda terrorists fighting coalition forces and instead thought the shipments were for earthquake relief.

"All I saw were fleeces and thermals .l never saw any radar detectors or night vision equipment," he claimed. Iqbal also told the jury that he did not take Khan seriously when he talked about terrorism."I thought he was a fantasist," Iqbal said, "His mindset and mental state had changed."It was just him talking and I went along with it."Khan has admitted being the mastermind behind an "evil" plot to abduct a Muslim British soldier and behead him "like a pig" in a lock-up garage.

He planned to snatch his intended victim with the help of drug-dealers as the target was enjoying an night out before murdering him on film.Footage of the "ghastly" killing would then be released "to spread fear among the armed forces and public", the jury has been told.Khan was the "hub" of a cell whose main purpose was to send supplies to Pakistan for use by terrorists fighting coalition forces in Afghanistan.
But he concocted his plot to kidnap a squaddie from the streets of Birmingham because he was "enraged" that there were Muslims in the British army.

The plan was scuppered when police and members of the security services swooped on Khan last January after secretly bugging his terraced home.Zahoor Iqbal denies helping Khan with his plot
The jury has been told Khan has admitted engaging in conduct with the intention to commit acts of terrorism between April 2006 and February 2007.

He also admits supplying equipment for use in terrorism and possessing a document likely to be useful in committing or preparing an act of terrorism.Iqbal, Perry Barr, Birmingham, denies engaging in conduct with the intention of assisting in the commission of acts of terrorism.The 30-year-old also denies possessing a document or record likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism.Khan, Alum Rock, Birmingham, allegedly enlisted two other men, Amjad Mahmood and Basiru Gassam, to identify a soldier for his plot.

Shopworker Mahmood, denies a charge of failing to disclose information relating to an act of terrorism.The 32-year-old, who worked near Khan's home, also denies engaging in conduct with the intention of assisting in the commission of acts of terrorism.
Gassama, 30,of Hodge Hill, Birmingham, has pleaded guilty to failing to disclose information relating to an act of terrorism.Two other Muslim men who are alleged to have been members of Khan's terrorist cell were also charged with terrorism-related offences.Hamid Elasmar, 44, Edgbaston, Birmingham, has admitted engaging in conduct with the intention of assisting in acts of terrorism.The jury has been told 31-year-old Mohammed Irfan, of Ward End, Birmingham, has also pleaded guilty to the same charge.

Dinosaur Had Crocodile-Like Skull

This bizarre British dinosaur may look like a meat-eater, but its skull actually functioned more like that of a fish-eating crocodile, a new study has found.When eating, Baryonyx walkeri's skull stretched and bent in a similar fashion to the modern-day gavial, or gharial, an Indian crocodile with long, narrow jaws.

This spinosaur—part of a family of dinosaurs called "spine lizards," which lived about 125 million years ago—also had large, 12-inch-long (30-centimeter-long) front claws.The 30-foot-long (9-meter-long) animal may have used them for scooping fish from the water (see above illustration).In the latest issue of the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, researchers used an engineering technique to compare digital models of snouts of gavials and Baryonyx.

The data show that, through "quirks in evolutionary history," the two species had different-shaped skulls that achieved the same outcome—eating fish."This shows us that in some cases there is more than one evolutionary solution to the same problem," study co-author Angela Milner, of the Natural History Museum in London, said in a statement.

Where Money means Paper

Caught on camera: Moment teenager risks death by lying on track as train hurtles overhead

A teenager with a death-wish has filmed himself lying on a railway track as a speeding train drives straight over him.In a sick twist of the game "chicken", the youth places himself flat out on the sleepers before a train hones into view behind him.

He remains motionless as it hurtles over his head, leaving him just inches from death - with the whole episode videoed to show off later.
Amazingly, he escapes entirely unharmed but lies still after the train has passed to ensure another one is not on its way.

After checking behind him, he raises his arm to the camera - thought to be in his mobile phone - in triumph before standing up and nonchalantly walking off.

The video on YouTube is thought to be part of a sick twist on "chicken", in which teenagers are now seeking to outdo each other with their daredevil stunts.

Internet sites have been flooded with footage of dangerous games which see youngsters vying with each other by risking their lives.

Police have warned that people will die unless the activity stops.

And the British Transport Police has warned that anyone caught performing such a stunt on railtracks would be prosecuted.

A transport source said: "All it would take is for something to be hanging from the train and it could take a limb - or a head - clean off.

"It is surely only a matter of time before someone ends up dead."

Tata unveils Nano, the cheapest car

India's giant Tata Group has unveiled the world's cheapest car that auto analysts say could turn upside down the cost of vehicles globally.The long-awaited "People's Car", over which the company has thrown a shroud of secrecy, was slated to be unveiled in the auto show at Pragati Maidan by Ratan Tata, the 70-year-old tycoon who heads the tea-to-steel group. Tata, whom the Indian media have likened to US automobile pioneer Henry Ford, has said he hopes the ultra-cheap car will "make a contribution to making life safer" for Indian families who often travel four to a motorbike -- father driving, mother riding pillion and two children wedged in between. The car, expected to carry a sticker price as low as 2,500 dollars could "revolutionise car costs downward," said leading Indian car analyst Murad Ali Baig. It "is bound to be followed by other low-cost ones."The four-door five-seater rear-engined auto, described by those who have seen it as boasting "cute" looks, is targeted at drivers trading up to four wheels from two in India as a booming economy creates new affluence. The car on which Tata Motor engineers have cut costs to the bone has sparked a race among global automakers to come up with rock-bottom priced vehicles to appeal to this growing lucrative segment in India and other emerging markets.The lightweight car has only one windshield wiper instead of two, no power steering, no power windows and no air conditioning, according to media reports and company comments. Already Germany's Volkswagen, leading Indian motorbike maker Bajaj Auto and France's Renault and Ford among others have said they planning or mulling new cheap cars for India where small autos comprise two-thirds of annual passenger vehicle sales of one million in the country of 1.1 billion. India's biggest carmaker, Japanese-owned Maruti Suzuki, has said it may cut the price of the Maruti 800, its most popular budget model that sells for 4,800 dollars -- the cheapest car now on the country's roads. Tata, which has been on an aggressive overseas expansion drive, is also expected to win its reported two-billion-dollar bid for the British Land Rover and Jaguar brands -- which would put it in the unusual position of making two prestige cars as well as the world's lowest-cost automobile. Environmentalists see clouds on the horizon if Tata's cheap car is a winner, fearing it will further jam up India's clogged roads and add to choking pollution. "With more cars you have more emissions and that adds to global warming -- what we need is public transport," said Souparno Banerjee, an official of Delhi's Centre for Science and Environment.But Tata says the car will create no more pollution than a motorbike. "If I can get a loan from my boss, I might buy the car so my family and I could travel, I can't take my mother on my motorcycle any more -- she's too old," said courier driver Daniel Abraham.