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Threat was a joke: suspect

Hasan Suroor

LONDON: An alleged terror suspect, accused of plotting to blow up British Parliament, has said that his remarks about "bombing'' the House of Commons was a "joke'' and denied that he had ever been involved in any terrorist conspiracy.

Omar Khayyam, a British Pakistani, who was arrested in 2004 with six others for allegedly conspiring to cause explosions likely to endanger life told the High Court that he was with some friends and watching a TV telecast of Prime Minister Tony Blair's speech in the Commons when he made the comment which he described as "just talk.''

"I remember I was watching on a Wednesday, the Prime Minister's Questions and we just made a comment, `Can you imagine if you dropped a bomb right there and then? You would take out all the MPs,' '' he said.

Asked who made the comment, he said: "I did''. His friends he said "just laughed''. He replied "No'', when questioned whether what he said was a "serious proposition.''

Mr. Khayyam (24), a former university student, also denied that sachets of aluminium powder found in his house at the time of his arrest were meant to be used for bombs.

He told the court that the powder was for making aluminium paint and he brought it from Pakistan during a visit to that country for an uncle living in West Sussex.

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