A Businessweek report said a British man confessed his involvement in plotting bombings on passenger jets by planting hidden explosives in his shoes. 34 year-old Saajid Badat had testified today at an undisclosed location in the UK via a closed-circuit television hookup for the trial of Sulaiman Abu Ghayth. Abu Ghayth is being tried on charges that he had top knowledge of the attacks to be done on US national by various methods and on acting as a spokesperson for his father-in-law Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network.
The news agency said Badat's testimony highlighted the current security protocols and programs done at airports as authorities continue the search for the missing Malaysian Airline System Bhds Flight 370. The Royal Thai Police had disclosed that two of the 239 people on board the missing plane used passports that were stolen from foreigners in Phuket. The cause of the plan's disappearance have yet to be determined, although many are suspecting that the plane might have been attacked by terrorist forces.
Badet, who said in his testimony that he had brainstormed with bin Laden and self-proclaimed September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, had pleaded guilty to terrorism charges in a UK court. Businessweek said that Badat has been placed in protective custody.
During Abu Ghayth' trial, jurors were able to see photographic and video evidence of the defendant together with the same men Badat had consulted with following the 2001 attacks. Badat also claimed that he had worked with Richard Reid in attempting to bomb a transatlantic flight via explosives hidden in Reid's shoes. Businessweek said Reid has since been convicted and is currently serving the remainder of his life sentence.
When asked why he agreed to cooperate with US and UK authorities, he said, referring to Mohammed, "I heard KSM was to be put on trial for 9/11. That was the primary reason, I wanted to provide evidence against him for this."
Businessweek said Mohammed is currently being kept in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba and is being prosecuted in a military tribunal.
