Islamist terror suspect accused of plotting Jewish massacre in Manchester 'hero-worshipped' mastermind of 2015 Paris attacks, court hears
The Islamist terror suspect accused of plotting a Jewish massacre in Manchester 'hero-worshipped' the mastermind of the Paris attacks in 2015, a court has heard.
Walid Saadaoui, 38, from Abram, near Wigan, wanted to kill as many Jewish people as possible in north west and cause 'untold harm', Preston Crown Court heard.
Prosecutor Harpreet Sandhu KC told jurors Saadaoui wanted to copycat jihadist Abdelhamid Abaaoud, who organised the Paris attacks in 2015 that killed 130 people and left hundreds wounded.
Saadaoui had access to 'fierce weapons' including assault rifles which were capable of firing several hundred rounds of ammunition per minute - the same type of firearms used in Paris.
Saadaoui is accused with Amar Hussein, 52, of preparing a terrorist attack by making plans for an attack, conducting reconnaissance and arranging the purchase and delivery of firearms.
Saadaoui was arrested by undercover police in a car park in Bolton as he took delivery of the weapons which he believed had been smuggled into the country.
The court heard that Saadaoui used a series of ten Facebook accounts to promote Islamic State, encourage attacks and stalk his targets.
Harpreet Sandhu KC, prosecuting, told the jury: 'Those Facebook accounts were Walid Saadaoui's vehicles to spread his extremist views.
'What Walid Saadaoui posted leaves no room for doubt that he embraced Islamic extremism wholeheartedly and that he condoned and encouraged the use of violence in the name of Islam.
'Those posts also show that Walid Saadaoui aligned himself with the views of the so-called Islamic State.'
Walid Saadaoui, 38, from Abram, near Wigan, (left in above court sketch alongside Bilel Saadaouui and Amar Hussein) wanted to kill as many Jewish people as possible in north west and cause 'untold harm', Preston Crown Court heard
On January 18 2023, Facebook removed a post about the Paris attacks because it breached 'community standards on dangerous individuals and organisations' but he just posted it again under another name.
In the posting he stated: 'Abd al-Hamid Abaaoud at only the age of 26 he humiliated the most notorious heretic states, Belgium and France and broke their strength. He made the streets run with their impure blood.'
The court was told that Abaaoud was a Belgian-born Islamic State terrorist who spent time in Syria and was behind multiple terrorist attacks in Belgium and France and the mastermind the 2015 Paris attacks.
Mr Sandhu said: 'The sort of firearms Walid Saadaoui had arranged to have smuggled into the UK were the sort of weapons which had been used to kill 130 people and injure hundreds more in Paris.
'Abdelhamid Abaaoud's actions in France which led to those deaths and those injuries were a source of inspiration for Walid Saadaoui.
'He wanted to replicate what Abaaoud had done. Walid Saadaoui hero-worshipped that terrorist. When he spoke of Abaaoud, he did so with pride and with reverence.'
Walid Saadaoui and Amer Hussein were said to be 'united in their hate for the Jewish people' and material posted on Walid Saadaoui's Facebook page demonstrated his deep hatred.
On January 27 and 28 2023, he posted images of nine dead bodies following an attack in Jerusalem adding: 'Nine Jewish corpses. O Allah, increase and bless... You see something beautiful today.'
He also supported Islamic State, posting on June 9 2023 in Arabic and English: 'The best thing that happened on the face of the earth under this coercive rule is the birth of the Islamic State.'
The men were said to hold meetings in a private house, and on July 7 2023 Walid Saadaoui posted about how he found mosques to be the 'most repugnant places to me' because those who visited them did not adhere to his brand of religion.
On December 13 2022, Walid Saadaoui was contacted by an undercover officer called Farouk, who was using the name Abu Bilal, on a Facebook page in which Saadaoui used the profile picture of the Paris attacks mastermind.
The undercover officer asked him, 'Peace and blessing of god, how did you get to know the martyr brother Abdul Hamid? I am from Belgium, that's how I got to know him.'
When Walid Saadaoui asked, 'Personally?', the officer replied: 'No, he used to live five minutes away from me, and I am from a Moroccan background, I didn't know him personally.'
Walid Saadaoui responded: 'May God preserve you. You need to do what he had done, make him a role model and carry out operations against the Jews and the Crusaders there, and hitting them there affects them badly.'
Mr Sandhu told the jury: 'There can be no doubt that engaging in terrorism against the Jewish people was at the forefront of Walid Saadaoui's mind.
Walid Saadaoui, 38, and Amar Hussein, 52, face trial alongside Saadaoui's younger brother, Bilel, 36, (pictured) from Hindley near Wigan who is charged with failure to disclose information about an act of terrorism.
'Walid Saadaoui did not need any encouragement to make these pronouncements of the terrorist attacks he would be engaging in. Indeed, he was the one who encouraged Farouk.'
He went on to ask Farouk: 'How much an automatic gun costs in Belgium?' before deleting the message.
Saadaoui went on to advise Farouk to 'try not to raise suspicions around yourself... dress and cut your hair like the disbelievers.'
'You will have to sort out your worldly business too, your children, your wife, your money and your interest so that you will not be occupied with all these ties and be free.'
Saadaoui said it was time to start coordinating between 'brothers' and raising funds for their planned attackand asked Farouk if there was a large gathering of Jews in Belgium.
Mr Sandhu said: 'That is important. It was Walid Saadaoui's aim to identify a mass-gathering of Jewish people and attack them and he told Farouk to find people to purchase firearms from.'
Saadaoui added: 'I can use a knife in the operation, but this will not be enough to take revenge, only the automatic gun. I want to kill as many as possible.'
Mr Sandhu told the jury: 'It is not a coincidence that the weapons he was about to receive on May 8 2024 when he was caught by the police were guns which were capable of killing hundreds of people.'
In a voice note, Saadaoui added: 'As I told you sheikh, these matters of running someone over with a car or using a knife is ineffective, what is needed is an automatic gun, an automatic gun.
'We want to do the same as what Abaaoud done, god willing. We must run rivers of their impure blood.'
In another voice note, he added: 'Apart from the issues of automatic guns, there is car crashes in crowded locations. Very crowded with a lot of people.
'The crash should use a big truck not the small car. I mean the transit van. Do you understand, that?'
Mr Sandhu said: 'There cannot be a clearer example of how mass casualties inspired by Abaaoud remained constant themes for Walid Saadaoui and to cause the greatest degree of catastrophe that they could.'
Walid Saadaoui had a terrorist attack against Jewish people 'firmly in his mind' and joined Facebook groups in the hope of getting information about gatherings of the Jewish community which he could attend in order to carry out atrocities, the prosecutor said.
He used one of his Facebook accounts in the name of Will Alba to join a group page on the social media site called 'Manchester Jewish Community' on 22 December 22 2023 after sending a message to the administrator claiming he had been a member of a synagogue in Croydon and had recently moved to Manchester.
He also joined the Facebook group of the Jewish Representative Council of Greater Manchester which contained details of a 'March Against Antisemitism' which had been held in Manchester on January 21 2024.
There were suggestions on that page that some 6,500 had taken part in that march and Walid Saadaoui was interested in finding similar events at which he could launch an attack, Mr Sandhu said.
The two men face trial alongside Saadaoui's younger brother, Bilel, 36, from Hindley near Wigan who is charged with failure to disclose information about an act of terrorism.
Before the trial started, Mr Justice Wall told the jury: 'It is no part of the prosecution case that any of these defendants had anything do with what happened at the synagogue in Manchester last week.
The trial continues.
