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{{main|2004 Financial buildings plot}}

{{Infobox criminal
|name= Dhiren Barot
|birth_date= {{birth-date and age|December 1971}}<ref name="timesonlineNovember7_2006">{{cite web|date=7 November 2006|url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article628497.ece|title=How radical Islam turned a schoolboy into a terrorist|work=[[The Times]]|access-date=27 August 2007|author=Adam Fresco|location=London, UK}}</ref>
|birth_place= [[Baroda]], India
|death_date=
|death_place=
|other_names = '''Bilal''', '''Abu Musa al-Hindi''', '''Abu Eissa al-Hindi''', and '''Issa al-Britani'''
|occupation= Terrorist ([[Mujahideen|Kashmir Mujahideen]]<br/>[[File:Flag of Jihad.svg|22px]] [[al-Qaeda]])}}

'''Dhiren Barot''' (aliases: '''Bilal''', '''Abu Musa al-Hindi''', '''Abu Eissa al-Hindi''', and '''Issa al-Britani'''; born December 1971) is a convicted [[India]]n-born British terrorist.<ref name="timesonlineNovember7_2006"/><ref name=Newsweek20040820Isikoff>{{cite news|url=http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5738292/site/newsweek|title=Bin Laden's Mystery Man|work=[[Newsweek]]|date=20 August 2004|author=[[Isikoff, Michael]], [[Mark Hosenball]]|access-date=26 August 2007|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070626074907/http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5738292/site/newsweek|archive-date=26 June 2007}}</ref>

==Background==
Barot was born in [[Baroda]], [[India]], into a [[Hindu]] family but converted to Islam later on in life.<ref name="timesonlineNovember7_2006"/><ref name="Muslim convert who plotted terror"/> His parents moved to the UK in 1973 when he was aged one. He attended the [[Kingsbury High School]] in [[north London]].<ref>{{cite web|author=metrowebukmetro|url=http://metro.co.uk/2006/10/12/man-admits-plotting-terror-outrages-282375|title=Man admits plotting terror outrages|publisher=[[Metro_(British_newspaper)|Metro]]|date=12 October 2006|access-date=11 June 2014}}</ref> He worked from 1991 to 1995 as an airline ticket and reservations agent for [[Air Malta]], in Piccadilly, central London.<ref>[http://www.di-ve.com/dive/portal/portal.jhtml?id=255857 Air Malta confirms Al-Qaeda terrorist was a former employee], di-ve.com; retrieved 20 November 2006.{{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927202705/http://www.di-ve.com/dive/portal/portal.jhtml?id=255857|date=27 September 2007}}</ref> He converted to [[Islam]] at the age of 20 in the UK.<ref name=TorStar20061016>{{cite news|url=http://www.canadiancoalition.com/forum/messages/19518.shtml|work=[[Toronto Star]]|title=He embraced Islam, then terrorism|date=16 October 2006|author=Sandro Contenta|access-date=26 August 2007|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071006195939/http://www.canadiancoalition.com/forum/messages/19518.shtml|archive-date=6 October 2007|df=dmy-all}}</ref>

Barot travelled to Pakistan in 1995. He took part in militant campaigns against Indian forces in [[Kashmir]]. Using the pseudonym Esa Al Hindi, he wrote a book, ''The Army of Madinah in Kashmir'', in 1999, discussing his experiences and describing ways to kill Indian soldiers. The book was commissioned and published by Maktabah al-Ansar bookshop.<ref name="BookshopOfRacistHate">[http://observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,2005576,00.html Bookshop's messages of racist hate], ''[[The Observer]]'', 4 February 2007.</ref>{{dead link|date=March 2017}}<ref name="ArmyOfMadinahBook">{{cite book|last=Al Hindi|first=Isa|authorlink=Dhiren Barot|title=The Army of Madinah in Kashmir|publisher=Maktabah al-Ansar|year=2000|isbn=0-9539847-0-2}}</ref> According to ''[[The Times of India]]'', in the late 1990s and early 2000, he served as an agent for [[al-Qaeda]].<ref>Rajghatta, C.(2004). [https://web.archive.org/web/20121014223754/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2004-08-18/us/27162562_1_abu-musa-al-hindi-mohammed-naeem-noor-khan-indian-forces "Dhiren Barot: India-born jihadi in 9/11 net"], ''The Times of India''; retrieved 20 November 2006.</ref>

Barot is credited with authoring a 39-page memo that advocated the use of simple explosives composed of materials available from local pharmacies and hardware stores. The memo was created for distribution among al-Qaeda operatives and was discovered in 2004 on a laptop in [[Pakistan]]. He reportedly learned the tactics from observations at [[al-Qaeda training camp]]s.<ref name=WashingtonPost20070705>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/04/AR2007070401814.html?referrer=google|work=[[The Washington Post]]|title=Homemade, Cheap and Dangerous: Terror Cells Favor Simple Ingredients In Building Bombs|author=[[Craig Whitlock]]|date=5 July 2007|page=A01|access-date=26 August 2007}}</ref>

He arrived in the US in August 2000 on a [[Visa (document)#Types|student visa]] along with Nadeem Tarmohamed; however, he never attended any college in the USA.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://counterterrorismblog.org/2005/04/immigration_fraud_and_terrorye.php|title=Immigration Fraud and Terror?Yet Again|author=Bill West|access-date=28 March 2016|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304235836/http://counterterrorismblog.org/2005/04/immigration_fraud_and_terrorye.php|archive-date=4 March 2016|df=dmy-all}}</ref> Around this time he began to do extensive reconnaissance of American targets for al-Qaeda. In a Pakistan arrest of al-Qaeda operatives agents found some 51 compact discs, dating from 2001, of reports and targeting research allegedly compiled by Barot.<ref name="nymag">{{cite web|year=2007|url=http://nymag.com/nymetro/news/features/11896|title=Al Qaeda's New York|work=New York|access-date=27 August 2007|last=Guy Martin}}</ref>{{not in citation|date=March 2017}} On 8 April 2001, Barot returned to the UK.<ref name="washingtonpostPDF">{{cite web|year=2007|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/articles/hindi.pdf|title=USA v. Dhrien Barot|work=[[The Washington Post]]|access-date=27 August 2007|last=David N. Kelley|quote=On or about April 8, 2001, DHIREN BAROT and NADEEM TARMOHAMED, the defendants, departed the United States on the same flight to the UK.<br/>(Title 18, United States Code, Section 2332a(a)(2),)}}</ref>

==Arrest==
Barot was arrested on 3 August 2004.<ref name=Newsweek20040820Isikoff/> He was charged by the UK authorities with the following offences:
* [[Conspiracy to commit murder]].
* Conspiracy to commit a public nuisance by the use of radioactive materials, toxic gases, chemicals and or explosives.
* Possessing detailed reconnaissance on the [[Prudential Financial|Prudential]] Building in [[New Jersey]].
* Possessing detailed reconnaissance of the [[International Monetary Fund]] headquarters in Washington, the [[New York Stock Exchange]] and [[Citigroup]] in New York, and two notebooks with information on explosives.<ref>Raman, B. (2004). [http://www.saag.org/papers11/paper1100.html "Al Qaeda: The New Web"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070510035142/http://www.saag.org/papers11/paper1100.html |date=10 May 2007 }}. [[South Asia Analysis Group]]; retrieved 20 November 2006.</ref>

Barot admitted to plotting to bomb the [[New York Stock Exchange]], the [[International Monetary Fund]] headquarters, and the [[World Bank Group|World Bank]], among other targets. In April 2007 it was revealed that he planned to use limousines packed with explosives and radioactive "dirty" bombs for the attacks.<ref name="BBC30April2007">{{cite web |date= 30 April 2007|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6608937.stm|title=Man admits part in terrorism plot|publisher=[[BBC]]|access-date=27 August 2007|last=[[BBC]]}}</ref>

His co-accused conspirators were: Mohammed Naveed Bhatti, 24; Abdul Aziz Jalil, 31; Omar Abdul Rehman, 20; Junade Feroze, 28; Zia ul Haq, 25; Qaisar Shaffi, 25; and Nadeem Tarmohammed, 26; all Britons of Pakistani origin, most of [[Mirpur, Azad Kashmir|Mirpuri]] descent. Much of the information about Barot's role in the planning of further al-Qaeda attacks came from [[Khalid Shaikh Mohammed]],{{cn|date=March 2017}} a prominent al-Qaeda operative captured by the Pakistani [[Inter-Services Intelligence|ISI]]. A witness stated that he attended Camp Hudaybiyah, run by the [[Jemaah Islamiyah]] group, where he was instructed in small arms training, mortars, basic explosives handling, navigation and jungle patrolling.<ref name="Muslim convert who plotted terror">{{cite news|title=Muslim convert who plotted terror|work=[[BBC News]]|date=7 November 2006|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6121084.stm|access-date=29 July 2007}}</ref>{{Not in citation given|None of this para is in source|date=November 2016}}

The prosecution did not dispute claims from the defence that no funding had been received for the projects, nor any vehicles or bomb-making materials acquired.<ref>{{cite news|title=Man admits UK-US terror bomb plot|work=[[BBC News]]|date=12 October 2006|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6044938.stm|access-date=29 July 2007 }}</ref>

===Sentencing===
On 7 November 2006, Barot was sentenced to life imprisonment, after pleading guilty to conspiracy to murder; it was recommended that he serve a minimum of 40 years.<ref>{{cite news|title=Al-Qaeda plotter jailed for life|work=[[BBC News]]|date=7 November 2006|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6123236.stm|access-date=29 July 2007}}</ref> In May 2007, his sentence was reduced to 30 years. The Court of Appeal, headed by Lord Chief Justice Lord Phillips, said that the 40-year sentence was for a terrorist who planned murder by "viable" means. It was also stated that Barot's plot did not amount to an actual attempt and it was uncertain whether it would have succeeded and what the consequences might have been. The Court of Appeal did note that Barot's "businesslike" plans would have caused carnage on a "colossal and unprecedented scale" if they had been successful.<ref>{{cite news|title='Dirty bomb' man's sentence cut|work=[[BBC News]]|date=16 May 2007|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6661371.stm|access-date=29 July 2007}}</ref>

===Prison attacks===
In July 2007, Barot was admitted to Newcastle's Royal Victoria Infirmary for five days after being badly injured by other inmates at [[Frankland (HM Prison)|HMP Frankland]]. For security reasons a news blackout of the incident was imposed while he was receiving treatment.<ref>{{cite news|title=Probe into jail attack on bomber|work=[[BBC News]]|date=22 July 2006|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/6910025.stm|access-date=29 July 2007}}</ref> It was later reported that Barot was treated for burns after two attacks. In the first attack, boiling water was poured on to his back and a fight ensued, in the second attack another prisoner poured boiling oil over his head.<ref>{{cite news|title=Al Qaeda mastermind attacked with boiling oil in North-East jail|publisher=[[The Northern Echo]]|date=21 July 2006|url=http://www.thisisthenortheast.co.uk/display.var.1563295.0.al_qaeda_mastermind_attacked_with_boiling_oil_in_northeast_jail.php|access-date=29 July 2007}}</ref> Such attacks are called "juggings".<ref>{{cite web|last=James|first=Erwin|title=There's no justice in a 'jugging'|work=[[The Guardian]]|date=26 July 2007|url=https://www.theguardian.com/society/2007/jul/26/1|access-date=27 July 2007}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

==External links==

* ''Barot's Book'' – {{cite book|last=Al Hindi|first=Isa|authorlink=Dhiren Barot|title=The Army of Madinah in Kashmir|publisher=Maktabah al-Ansar|year=2000|isbn=0-9539847-0-2}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barot, Dhiren}}
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:1972 births]]
[[Category:British al-Qaeda members]]
[[Category:Gujarati people]]
[[Category:Indian al-Qaeda members]]
[[Category:Converts to Islam from Hinduism]]
[[Category:Indian emigrants to England]]
[[Category:People convicted on terrorism charges]]
[[Category:Prisoners and detainees of England and Wales]]
[[Category:People from Vadodara]]
[[Category:People from the London Borough of Brent]]
[[Category:Criminals from London]]

Dhiren Barot - Revision history

>GreenC bot at 15:36, 16 April 2021