A PLUMBER was charged yesterday with plotting to acquire a cache of Uzi sub- machineguns and thousands of rounds of ammunition for terrorist operations.

Kazi Nurur Rahman, from Newham, East London, was arrested by armed Scotland Yard officers on November 29 as he left a parked car on a road near the South Mimms service station close to the M25 in Hertfordshire.

Mr Rahman is alleged to have been involved with a cache of weapons including three Uzis, 3,000 rounds of ammunition, three silencers and nine magazines.

Uzi sub-machineguns were developed and built by the Israelis and are capable of firing up to 900 rounds a minute, depending on the model. They are used worldwide by security forces.

Yesterday Mr Rahman, a British citizen, was remanded at Bow Street Magistrates’ Court, accused of seven charges including breaches of the Terrorism Act 2000 and the Firearms Act 1968.

Mr Rahman was flanked by two security guards in the dock. He spoke only to confirm his name and date of birth.

Daphne Wickham, a district judge, remanded Mr Rahman in custody to appear at the Old Bailey on December 19. No application for bail was made.

Mr Rahman was arrested by Scotland Yard’s anti-terrorist branch after an operation involving MI5. Two homes in Waltham Forest and Newham were searched after his arrest and he was questioned for nearly a week before he was charged.

The seven charges Mr Rahman faces include two alternative charges.

He is charged with possessing an Uzi without holding a current firearm certificate on or about November 29, contrary to section 1 (1) Firearms Act 1968. In the second charge he is accused having an Uzi with intent to endanger life, contrary to section 16 of the Firearms Act 1968 on or about November 29.

There is an alternative charge of conspiracy with others to possess three Uzis and ammunition with intent to endanger life contrary to section 1 Criminal Law Act 1977.

Under the third charge he is accused of breaching section 5 of the Firearms Act 1968 by having a prohibited Uzi. The fourth charge, under section 17 of the Terrorism Act 2000, alleges that before November 30 Mr Rahman “entered into or became concerned in an arrangement, as a result of which three Uzi firearms and 3,000 bullets is [sic] made available or is to be made available to another, and he knows or has reasonable cause to suspect that it will or may be used for the purposes of terrorism”.

In the fifth charge, brought under section 57 of the Terrorism Act 2000, Mr Rahman is accused of having an Uzi sub-machinegun “for a purpose connected with the commission, preparation or instigation of an act of terrorism”.

He is also accused of an alternative charge under section 1 of the Criminal Law Act 1977 of plotting with others to possess three Uzi firearms and ammunition “in circumstances which give rise to a reasonable sus-picion that his possession is for a purpose connected with the commission, preparation or instigation of an act of terrorism”.

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