A man accused of plotting a gun attack on Jewish people "hero-worshipped" the mastermind behind the 2015 Paris terror attacks, a court has heard. Walid Saadaoui, 38, and Amar Hussein, 52, allegedly planned to cause "untold harm" and kill as many Jewish people as possible in northwest England.
Saadaoui had access to "fierce weapons" including assault rifles capable of firing several hundred rounds per minute, Preston Crown Court was told. These were the same type of firearms used in Paris when 130 people were killed and hundreds more injured.
Hero worship of terrorist
Prosecutor Harpreet Sandhu KC told jurors that Abdelhamid Abaaoud's deadly actions were "a source of inspiration for Walid Saadaoui". The defendant wanted to replicate what the Belgian-born terrorist had done and "hero-worshipped that terrorist".
In social media posts, Saadaoui wrote about Abaaoud with "pride and reverence", the court heard. In a Facebook post from January 2023, he wrote: "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."
Multiple fake accounts
Saadaoui used ten Facebook accounts, none in his real name, to spread Islamic extremist views, the prosecutor said. One account called Liya Ernia was used to communicate with an undercover operative who he believed was a fellow Islamic State sympathiser.
The profile picture for the Liya Ernia account was the terrorist Abaaoud himself. Through another fake account named Will Alba, Saadaoui joined the Manchester Jewish Community Facebook group, claiming he had recently moved to Manchester from a synagogue in Croydon.
Targeting Jewish events
The defendant also joined the Facebook group of the Jewish Representative Council of Greater Manchester, which contained details of a 'March Against Antisemitism' attended by thousands on 21st January last year. "Walid Saadaoui was interested in finding similar events to launch an attack with Amar Hussein and do what they dreamed of, and that was killing many Jewish people," Mr Sandhu said.
Police thwarted their plans as the pair unknowingly revealed their scheme to the undercover operative. Saadaoui, of Abram, Wigan, and Hussein, of no fixed address, deny preparing acts of terrorism between 13th December 2023 and 9th May 2024.
Walid Saadaoui's brother, Bilel Saadaoui, 36, of Hindley, Wigan, has pleaded not guilty to failing to disclose information about acts of terrorism in the same period.
Sources used: "PA Media" Note: This article has been edited with the help of Artificial Intelligence.
