Christmas Plot

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The Christmas Plot, also referred to as the London Stock Exchange bombing, was an Al-Qaeda inspired Islamic terrorist plot by nine individuals (many of whom were members of the banned Islamist group Al-Muhajiroun) to bomb the London Stock Exchange and establish a training camp for terrorists, who would then be directed to bomb various targets in London.. The ringleader of the plot was Mohammed Shahjahan, and members included Usman Khan, who would later be killed by police during a terror attack in 2019. It was ultimately prevented due to a long-term MI5 surveillance program codenamed "Operation Guava", initiated after conspirators Abdul Miah and Gurukanth Desai were bugged due to suspicions that they were involved with extremists.

Conspirators

• Mohammed Shahjahan (ringleader)
• Nazam Hussein (deputy)
• Usman Khan
• Mohammed Chowdury (the group's "lynchpin", responsible for communications between the other members of the plot)
• Abdul Miah
• Gurukanth Desai
• Shah Rahman
• Omar Latif
• Mohibur Rahman

Plot

The main plot was the bombing of the London Stock Exchange, which was to be accomplished via one of the plotters leaving a bomb in one of the toilet stalls. However, they also planned to establish a jihadist training camp in Pakistan on land owned by Usman Khan, which would allow them to train recruits who would then carry out attacks on various targets in London. When they were caught, the plotters had already formulated plans for recruits to bomb the US Embassy and the houses of two rabbis, the dean of St Paul's Cathedral and the house of Boris Johnson, and had begun performing reconnaissance on Big Ben, the London Eye and Westminster Abbey. According to those working on Operation Guava, the plotters engaged in Holocaust denial during their meetings, as they repeatedly asserted that the Nazis did not kill as many Jews as is recorded in history. However, as a result of Operation Guava, all nine plotters were arrested in December 2010, shortly before the attack was due to take place. Mohammed Shahjahan, Nazam Hussein and Usman Khan all received indefinite prison terms (all three were released on licence in 2019), Abdul Miah was jailed for 16 years and 10 months, Gurukanth Desai and Shah Rahman were jailed for 12 years, Mohammed Chowdury was jailed for 13 years and 18 months, Omar Latif was jailed for 10 years and 4 months and Mohibur Rahman was jailed for 5 years.