Two men jailed for 63 years for plotting gun attack on Jewish community in UK

Two extremists have been jailed for life for plotting an Islamic State-inspired mass murder of Jewish people.

Walid Saadaoui, 38, and Amar Hussein, 52, were found guilty of having prepared acts of terrorism between 13 December 2023 and 9 May 2024.

They planned to kill hundreds of Jewish people in Greater Manchester at an event where Countdown star Rachel Riley was speaking.

If carried out, their attack, driven by their ‘visceral dislike’ of Jewish people, would have been the deadliest terror attack ever to take place in the UK.

Saadaoui must serve a minimum of 37 years behind bars, while Hussein will serve at least 26 years.

Jurors heard how the two men embraced the views of the Islamic State, an insurgent group that traces its origins to Al-Qaeda in Iraq.

Mastermind Saadaoui aimed to smuggle four AK-47 assault rifles, two handguns and 900 rounds of ammunition to carry out the terrorist attack.

Saadaoui worshipped the main instigator of the deadly 2015 Paris terror attack, Abdelhamid Abaaoud.

He first appeared on police radars when he made 10 Facebook profiles to spread extremist views.

After recruiting Kuwaiti national Hussein, the pair travelled to Dover to see how a weapon could be smuggled through the port in March 2024.

The plot was thwarted on May 8 2024, after Saadaoui and Hussein unknowingly revealed their violent plans to an undercover operative.

The operative, known only as ‘Farouk’, had infiltrated jihadist social media networks to convince Saadaoui that he was a fellow extremist.

Saadaoui, a father of two from Tunisia, paid a deposit to Farouk to import firearms.

He was arrested at a hotel car park in Bolton when he went to collect the shipment.

No date was ever identified for the attack, though prosecutors said it would have involved shooting at a march against antisemitism.

Justice Wall told the defendants: ‘I am sure this would have led to the deaths of many people and serious injuries to many, many more.

‘Your plan envisaged you and two others discharging AK-47s into a large crowd of marchers, who were unarmed and defenceless.

‘One hundred and twenty bullets could have been discharged before any reloads were required. You planned to have spare magazines available.

‘Your attack would have led to the deaths of people of all ages, including children.’

Sir Stephen Watson, the Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police, said Jews ‘have more justification to be fearful than anybody else’.

Sir Watson said today’s sentencing follows the deadly October attack at the Heaton Park Synagogue and the Bondi Beach massacre in Sydney.

He added: ‘We are seeing the manifestation of hatred moving beyond our shores globally and this is a threat to all of us.

‘It is a threat to our Jewish communities, and if our Jewish communities are under threat, we are all under threat.’

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