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(sounds a little walter mitty to me)
A Briton accused of a fertiliser bomb plot has refused to give further evidence in court because he fears for the safety of his family in Pakistan.
Omar Khyam, 24, of Crawley, West Sussex, was the first of seven Britons accused of the plot to give evidence.
He told the Old Bailey jury that his relatives had been contacted by the Pakistani security services, the ISI, regarding his evidence about them.
All seven men deny conspiring with a Canadian to cause explosions.
Two days' evidence
Mr Khyam had entered the witness box last week and spent two days talking about his time in Pakistan, where he received military training and then "working for the cause" to free Islamic lands.
After speaking on Friday afternoon about raising money for Afghanistan using fraud, he was due to talk about the fertiliser on Monday morning.
But after being asked by his counsel, Joel Bennathan, whether he had bought the fertiliser with the help of others, Mr Khyam said he would not continue.
"Before we go on to that topic, I just want to say the ISI [Pakistani secret services] in Pakistan has had words with my family relating to what I have been saying about them," he told the court.
"I think they are worried I might reveal more about them, so right now, as much as I want to clarify matters, the priority for me has to be the safety of my family so I am going to stop.
"I am not going to discuss anything related to the ISI any more or the evidence."
The court was adjourned for more than an hour to consider the situation, after which the judge, Sir Michael Astill, warned Mr Khyam the jury could "draw inferences" from his refusal to continue.
"If you refuse to answer questions, the jury may draw such inferences as appears proper from your failure to do so," he said.
The defendant answered "yes" when asked if he understood.
The jury was then told to leave the courtroom.
The seven defendants were arrested in March 2004 when 600kg of fertiliser was found stored in a west London depot.
It is alleged they discussed bombing targets including pubs and nightclubs.
When asked about his reaction to the attacks on the World Trade Center, Mr Khyam said: "I was happy. America was, and still is, the greatest enemy of Islam.
"They put up puppet regimes in Muslim countries like Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Egypt.
"I was happy that America had been hit because of what it represented against the Muslims, but obviously 3,000 people died so there were mixed feelings."
It is alleged the men plotted between 1 January 2001 and 31 March 2004 to set off a series of bombs.
Mr Khyam, his younger brother Shujah-Ud-Din Mahmood, 18, and Waheed Mahmood, 33, from Crawley, West Sussex, along with Jawad Akbar, 22, from Crawley and Uxbridge, Anthony Garcia, 27, from Ilford, east London, Nabeel Hussain, 20, from Horley, Surrey, and Salahuddin Amin, 30, from Luton, Bedfordshire, are accused of conspiring to cause an explosion likely to endanger life contrary to section 3 (1)(a) of the Explosive Substances Act 1883.
Mr Khyam, who has also lived in Slough, Mr Garcia and Mr Hussain are also charged under the Terrorism Act 2000 of possessing an article for terrorism - namely 600kg of ammonium nitrate fertiliser between 5 November, 2003 and 31 March, 2004.
Brothers Mr Khyam and Mr Mahmood also deny having aluminium powder, which is an ingredient in explosives, between the same dates.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/5355976.stm
A Briton accused of a fertiliser bomb plot has refused to give further evidence in court because he fears for the safety of his family in Pakistan.
Omar Khyam, 24, of Crawley, West Sussex, was the first of seven Britons accused of the plot to give evidence.
He told the Old Bailey jury that his relatives had been contacted by the Pakistani security services, the ISI, regarding his evidence about them.
All seven men deny conspiring with a Canadian to cause explosions.
Two days' evidence
Mr Khyam had entered the witness box last week and spent two days talking about his time in Pakistan, where he received military training and then "working for the cause" to free Islamic lands.
After speaking on Friday afternoon about raising money for Afghanistan using fraud, he was due to talk about the fertiliser on Monday morning.
But after being asked by his counsel, Joel Bennathan, whether he had bought the fertiliser with the help of others, Mr Khyam said he would not continue.
"Before we go on to that topic, I just want to say the ISI [Pakistani secret services] in Pakistan has had words with my family relating to what I have been saying about them," he told the court.
"I think they are worried I might reveal more about them, so right now, as much as I want to clarify matters, the priority for me has to be the safety of my family so I am going to stop.
"I am not going to discuss anything related to the ISI any more or the evidence."
The court was adjourned for more than an hour to consider the situation, after which the judge, Sir Michael Astill, warned Mr Khyam the jury could "draw inferences" from his refusal to continue.
"If you refuse to answer questions, the jury may draw such inferences as appears proper from your failure to do so," he said.
The defendant answered "yes" when asked if he understood.
The jury was then told to leave the courtroom.
The seven defendants were arrested in March 2004 when 600kg of fertiliser was found stored in a west London depot.
It is alleged they discussed bombing targets including pubs and nightclubs.
When asked about his reaction to the attacks on the World Trade Center, Mr Khyam said: "I was happy. America was, and still is, the greatest enemy of Islam.
"They put up puppet regimes in Muslim countries like Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Egypt.
"I was happy that America had been hit because of what it represented against the Muslims, but obviously 3,000 people died so there were mixed feelings."
It is alleged the men plotted between 1 January 2001 and 31 March 2004 to set off a series of bombs.
Mr Khyam, his younger brother Shujah-Ud-Din Mahmood, 18, and Waheed Mahmood, 33, from Crawley, West Sussex, along with Jawad Akbar, 22, from Crawley and Uxbridge, Anthony Garcia, 27, from Ilford, east London, Nabeel Hussain, 20, from Horley, Surrey, and Salahuddin Amin, 30, from Luton, Bedfordshire, are accused of conspiring to cause an explosion likely to endanger life contrary to section 3 (1)(a) of the Explosive Substances Act 1883.
Mr Khyam, who has also lived in Slough, Mr Garcia and Mr Hussain are also charged under the Terrorism Act 2000 of possessing an article for terrorism - namely 600kg of ammonium nitrate fertiliser between 5 November, 2003 and 31 March, 2004.
Brothers Mr Khyam and Mr Mahmood also deny having aluminium powder, which is an ingredient in explosives, between the same dates.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/5355976.stm
