'Glasgow plotter asked for loan,' court told

An alleged terrorist plotter asked if he could get a bank loan to fund car bomb attacks in Glasgow and London, a court heard yesterday.

Bilal Abdulla, 29, considered loans, ISAs and credit cards as a means of bankrolling the plan, a jury was told. Woolwich Crown Court heard that he discussed various funding schemes with Indian engineering student Kafeel Ahmed, 28, who died after smashing a Jeep packed with gas canisters and petrol into a terminal building at Glasgow Airport on 30 June last year.

Mr Abdulla is accused of conspiracy to murder and to cause explosions alongside Mohammed Asha, 28, a medical doctor working in Stoke-on-Trent at the time of the attack. The prosecution claims that Asha worked behind the scenes on the plan, providing advice, cash and equipment.

Two car bombs were left in London's West End by the pair, it is claimed, but mobile phone detonators failed to work in the early hours of 29 June.

Jonathan Laidlaw QC, for the prosecution, said the trio had bought five cars in early June, one of which was left near Haymarket in London, while another, which belonged to a former policeman, was abandoned at John Lennon Airport in Liverpool. Mr Abdulla and Mr Asha deny the charges. The trial continues.