A terrorist plotted to explode a series of bombs in Britain, causing "the loss of innocent human life on a massive scale", including blowing up a train while it travelled underneath the Thames and using a dirty bomb.
Dhiren Barot, 35, wanted to fill three limousines packed with gas cylinders, explosives and shrapnel and then blow them up in car parks under key buildings.
Reconnaissance on well known London hotels and mainline railway stations were found by anti-terrorist police.
Barot, who grew up in north-west London, wanted to create "another black day for the enemies of Islam" Woolwich Crown Court heard today.
Edmund Lawson, QC, for the prosecution, outlined the case against Barot, who has admitted conspiracy to murder between January 2000 and August 2004, detailing the plans he had to carry out mass murder both in this country and America.
He said: "The criminal plot was to carry out massive explosions here and in the US. The principle object was to kill hundreds if not thousands of innocent people without warning."
Talking about the Gas Limousine Project (GLP) Mr Lawson said that in early 2004 Barot, who was a "member or close associate of al-Qaeda" travelled to Pakistan to get the plans for a series of co-ordinated attacks approved. He had costed the attacks as though they were business plans, the barrister said.
"He set out within a proposal plans for the detonation of a radiation dispersal device, more commonly known as a ’dirty bomb’, the use of a petrol tanker to cause an explosion and attacks on the London rail or underground network.
"Barot included the Heathrow Express as a possible target or an explosion on a Tube train whilst in a tunnel under the river.
"As to the last he [Barot] wrote: ’imagine the chaos that would be caused if a powerful explosion were to rip through here and actually rupture the river itself. ’This would cause pandemonium, what with the explosions, flooding, drowning etc that would occur or result.’"
Mr Lawson said that it was only "an outstanding counter-terrorism operation" that thwarted Barot, a British citizen, from carrying out his plans when he was arrested in August 2004.
Although plans to blow up buildings in America were shelved because of the success of 9/11, they were not forgotten, the high security court heard.
They included attacks on the International Monetary Fund and World Bank buildings in Washington, the New York Stock Exchange and Citigroup buildings in New York and the Prudential building in Newark.
Mr Lawson said of these attacks: "Various possible methods of attack were raised for consideration including parking limousines packed with explosives next to or under the target, arson, by means of hijacked petrol tankers, or igniting gas cylinders or possibly the use of an aeroplane.
"The plans involved the giving of no warnings and were designed to kill as many innocent civilians as was possible."
He added: "On the evidence he organised the production of the plans to carry out the attacks in America, developing later into plots to kill and cause disruption in this country.
"Here he recruited his co-defendants to provide the support he needed to carry out the reconnaissance necessary in the US where he went himself to select the target buildings.
"Then in this country he conducted the research for the proposal and then for the preparation for the attack. This picture is consistent with the terms of a letter written by Barot himself, which has been recovered from computer equipment where he speaks of a ‘small unit' that is operating ‘around the clock’ and a passage in the Gas Limos Project where he refers to his group as a ’sleeper cell’."
During a hand held video taken of the World Trade Centre taken by one of Barot’s cell the cameraman can clearly be heard saying "Boom".
The camera is tilted, showing the building on its side, just a few months before the 9/11 attack took place.
Mr Lawson said:"There is, we suggest, clearly audible on that film someone making an imitation of an explosive noise when the WTC appears on the film. We have to bear in mind this was five months before 9/11.
"We are not advancing this as foreknowledge on the part of Barot or associates for 9/11. It does, however, demonstrate at minimum, an unhealthy interest in attacks in iconic buildings such as the WTC and is notable for its macabre prophecy."
Outlining a planned attack on the Prudential Insurance building in Newark, New Jersey the court heard that documents went into great detail about how they could bring the building down.
One document said: "The most obvious technique to utilize, that comes to mind - if you do not mind history repeating itself, would be a limousine in the VIP underground car park... with all except the front seats removed in order to facilitate maximum space..."
Barot writes in conclusion: "I have left no stone unturned and have spent countless weeks, days, hours, and months pouring over literature material as well as exploration..."
At the end of the report under the heading "Mistakes" the report says:"None that come to mind."
Mr Lawson then went on to talk about the UK plot "culminating in the production of the GLP. The fundamental plan was to get a Limo packed with gas and explosives into car parks underneath significant buildings in the UK.
"I am not in a position to identify those targets. Barot claimed to have identified the targets when he reported to his superiors in Pakistan but we have not yet discovered the evidence as to which he had in mind.
"It’s apparent that very substantial research by Barot and those I describe as his agents has been carried out into all aspects of proposals including research that went on into so called the dirty bomb project."
Although the Crown do not know for sure which hotels were targeted the court was shown documents that listed many of London’s premier hotels including the Hyatt Carlton, Marriott, Savoy, Dorchester and Lanesborough.
Alongside the Savoy a note says: "Rear easy and enclosed but deserted except for laundry room etc."
The Berkeley was also listed with notes written next to it, "dead end, left side, poss rec".
The notes, shown to the court on plasma screens, also mentioned the stations Waterloo, Kings Cross and Paddington with geographical notes next to them as well, such as: "Paddy: OK but very distant and open (extreme left side easy access)."
Admitting that the prosecution did not know if this meant these places were targets Mr Lawson said that it was the end "of a nefarious investigation into the potential for terrorist activity on hotels and or railway stations. "We have no basis for establishing whether they were in fact targets for the GLP."
Authorities found research into radiation in a file named "Brad Pit" during searches of a house in west London.
"Further within the Brad Pit folder was another folder 'Radioactive Children' and within that the police recovered a document entitled ’Final Presentation’," said Mr Lawson.
He added that within the documents was an explanation about a RDD - radiation dispersal device.
The dangers of constructing a RDD are also discussed in the files.
One stated: "To cause a large amount of radioactive contamination, we would be drawn toward very high activity sources. However, in order to prepare the source for effective dispersal by removing the shielding we would risk exposing ourselves to lethal doses.
"Even in suicidal missions we might not live long enough to deliver a highly radioactive RDD that uses gamma-emitting sources and is not shielded."
In other documents police recovered deleted material from computer harddrives. These had titles including "Explosive Children", "Flammable Children Shopping Cart". Other files contain what are described as "fun little napalm recipes".
Mr Lawson said that there was DNA and fingerprint evidence linking Barot to conspiracy plans found on DVDs and other computer equipment.
"The care he took in terms of his meetings with his co-defendants, the use of coded messages and the anti-surveillance tactics he employed to unsure that observation of his activity would be as difficult as possible lends further support to his role as the organiser of major terrorist activity designed to strike at the heart of both America and this country and to cause the loss of innocent human life on a massive scale."
Mr Lawson told the court how Barot and other members of his terrorist cell used sophisticated anti-surveillance techniques in case they were being watched by the auhtorities.
Barot used a variety of vehicles and had no fixed address in Britain; he had a mobile phone but never used it to speak to other alleged members of the cell. On one occasion members of the gang drove from London to Swansea to use an internet cafe.
Three members of the unit used Yahoo e-mail addresses entitled "kewl n kinki", "nightwithkylie" and "bridget-jonesdiaries" to communicate with each other in code which the authorities have not yet been able to break.
Mr Lawson said: "These e-mails are written in the style of teenagers discussing music, television and using language and employing sexual references which would not normally be considered appropriate to devout Muslims."
The messages contained references to Big Brother and other television programmes and reminded the reader "Don’t bring your friend" - a reminder to be careful about being followed.
The hearing continues.
