BRITAIN:A man was yesterday convicted of being part of a cell whose leader planned to kidnap and behead a British soldier.
Zahoor Iqbal (30) of Perry Barr, Birmingham, England, was found guilty at Leicester crown court of one count of helping Parviz Khan supply equipment to terrorists in Pakistan, near the Afghanistan border, to aid attacks on coalition forces.
He was cleared of possessing a document or record likely to be useful to a terrorist - a computer disk entitled "Encyclopaedia Jihad".
Khan has admitted four charges linked to the kidnapping plot and other offences. He was the only defendant charged over the plan to murder a soldier.
During the trial, Iqbal denied prosecution claims that he helped Khan send the illegal cargoes to terrorists, saying he thought their trips to wholesalers were to buy relief aid for the victims of the Kashmir earthquake in October 2005.
The defendant, a school attendance and mentoring officer, told jurors he believed the invasion of Iraq "was the right thing to do". He did not subscribe to Khan's extremist views, he said. He was remanded in custody for sentencing.