A Pakistan-trained terrorist, described as global quartermaster for the Lashkar-e-Tayiba group, has been sentenced to nine years in prison after he admitted to charges of conspiring to provide funds for terrorist activities.
Mohammed Ajmal Khan, 31, who trained in Pakistan and travelled widely, had made available a significant source of funds from an 'unidentified but undeniably terrorist-related source', Justice Fulford said in his judgement on Friday.
The Coventry-based Khan allegedly used millions of pounds raised by supporters in the United Kingdom to purchase Kevlar body armour, firearms and hi-tech surveillance equipment, which were funneled to rebels in Afghanistan and Jammu and Kashmir.
The judge at Snaresbrook Crown Court called on the UK government to urgently consider introducing greater sentencing powers. The maximum sentence for the charge is 14 years in prison, which had to be reduced because of Khan's guilty plea.
Khan admitted to charges of conspiring to provide money and property to terrorists for four years from March 2001. He also admitted to directing a terrorist organisation and the membership of LeT, outlawed under the Terrorism Act 2000.
Firzana Khan, 41, a housewife from Coventry, has also admitted her involvement in the conspiracy. She is yet to be sentenced. Prosecutor Andrew Edis told the court that Khan held an influential position in the Pakistan-based LeT.
He said the organisation was closely affiliated to the al-Qaeda and was involved in terrorist activity aimed at securing an Islamic state in Jammu and Kashmir.
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