British Medical Student And Co-Accused Charged Over Islamic State Terror Plot

Tarik Hassane, the 21-year-old medical student who was arrested for allegedly planning a terror attack in London, was charged along with three other men who were reportedly involved in the plot.

According to BBC News, Scotland Yard has revealed that Tarik Hassane, Suhaib Majeed, Nyall Hamlett, and Momen Motasim were jointly charged with the intention of committing acts of terrorism between July 8 and October 7.

The men are accused of taking an oath of allegiance to the Islamic State (IS) militant group and arranging to buy a handgun equipped with a silencer. Other charges include conducting hostile reconnaissance of a police station and Army barracks in London using Google Street View and setting up secret communications with ISIS.

They were charged following arrests in London over the last two weeks.

The Guardian reported that Scotland Yard counter-terrorism command interviewed the medical student and the three other men, and examined items seized from their homes, including computer equipment. Counter-terrorism officials believe they were planning a significant terror attack that would have involved shootings and bombings in public places, but could also have envisaged public beheadings. Metropolitan Police Commissioner Bernard Hogan-Howe described the operation as “quite serious.”

In the meanwhile, more details have emerged about the 21-year-old medical student.

According to The Independent, Tarik Hassane, who goes by the nickname “The Surgeon,” was studying medicine in Sudan after being rejected for a place at Kings College in London.

The medical student began his studies at the University of Medical Sciences and Technology in Khartoum last September, a university which security sources say is a hot bed for students associated with Islamist extremism. Hassane was known to associate with some Salafist or fundamentalist students.

An ardent user of social media, Hassane used the name TarikHass, to write several postings on the site Ask.fm espousing radical Islamist beliefs, including that it was Allah’s wish for followers to wage war in his name.

The medical student who was tasered by a police officer, as reported by The Inquisitr, tweeted, “Oi lads… I smell war,” a few hours before he was swept up in a series of predawn terror raids in London.

It is also reported that Hassane shared his views on the civil war Syria.

“Our brothers and sisters in Syria have realised that Jihad is what will bring them true freedom and justice, not some democratic system,” he posted.

The medical student and the other men were remanded in custody until October 27 after the hearing at Westminster Magistrates’ Court.

[Image via Daily News]