How an undercover cop foiled an IS plot to massacre Britain’s Jews

0:00This is The Guardian.

0:07Today, the plot to kill as many Jews in Manchester as possible.

0:18If you're getting married in Bolton, the Last Drop Hotel will probably be on your shortlist of wedding venues. It's very nice. It's more of a village than a hotel. a collection of 17th century farmhouses and it's got gorgeous views across the Lancashire countryside. There's a spa, a deli, a hydrotherapy pool and a golf course around the corner. But when Walid Sadawi arrived there, one sunny day in May 2024, he had other things on his mind. He parked up his Peugeot 308, got out of the car and went to hug a man he knew as Farouk. Finally, he rejoiced, their day had come.

0:58He thought Farouk would hand over an armory of weapons. Two assault rifles, a semi-automatic pistol and almost 200 rounds of ammunition. His plan was to use these guns to kill as many Jews as he could in Manchester.

1:15But he was instead greeted by armed police. They had foiled what detectives believed could have been the UK's worst ever terror attack.

1:28It wasn't one of those plots, you know, the sort of four lines cliche where you've got somebody who's quite hapless, who's been led along and is saying things to impress. These men were quite serious. Their intent was to commit to slaughter of innocent people for no better reason than their religion. From The Guardian, I'm Helen Pidd. Today in Focus, how police snared the IS terrorists determined to wreak deadly havoc in Manchester.

1:59Chris Osu, you are The Guardian's community affairs correspondent based in Manchester. And you covered the story of what could have been Britain's worst ever terror attack. And at the heart of this story are two brothers from Tunisia, whose background you wouldn't necessarily think would prepare them for terrorism. So tell me about them. First of all, Waleed, the older brother, who I think was the driving force behind this plot. So these are two brothers from Tunisia and they both work in the tourist resort of Seuss. Waleed Zadawi, the older brother, he's a hotel entertainer. And by day, he's joining guests, mainly Western tourists, in pool sessions of aerobics and water polo, making sure everybody enjoys their holiday.

2:42And at night, he's doing dance shows and quiz contests. And it's through this work that he meets a British woman, a holiday maker. Okay, so he has this holiday romance, essentially. Yeah, he has this holiday romance and he comes across as this fun-loving, relaxed guy. And he moves with her and settles to Great Yarmouth in 2012. And what does he do once he arrives in Britain? He's working at this haven holiday village. He's working in its shops. He's working in his bakery and an arcade. He's doing all the hours round the clock, doing lots of overtime. He says to improve his life and build up the money to buy his own restaurant, which is his dream.

3:20And he buys an Italian restaurant called the Albatross in Great Yarmouth. And he runs that for a number of years with his first wife. And what do we know about his personality and kind of what he was into? He dresses casually. He seems friendly. He seems westernised. He's got pet birds that he dotes on. This comes across as a hardworking guy who just wants to improve his life and isn't particularly interested in religion. And what about Bilal, his younger brother? His younger brother has been on a very similar journey. He also works in tourism. He also meets a British holidaymaker and he also moves to the UK.

3:58And like Waleed, he doesn't present as a particularly observant, let alone extremist Muslim at all. And he moves to Hindley in Wigan. And by 2020, he's working in a pound shop in the town. You've said that Walid didn't present as any kind of Islamist fanatic. Were there any signs back then that they were jihadists in waiting? There weren't signs, but later the investigation would reveal that they had committed to Islamic State as a very young age. And what prosecutors believe is that effectively they maintain this idea that they weren't particularly religious. But the truth was they didn't present as religiously observant because they didn't really have any time for orthodox religion.

4:44They didn't have time for mosques. They saw mosques as repugnant. So effectively, they were immersed in a kind of jihadist creed and not a traditional version of Islam. Okay. And so it sounds like these English women that they married had no idea. They didn't have the first idea. Okay. These two brothers were actually steeped in this extremist world, largely online, but also in small prayer groups. and between each other they would talk about these things but they would do so in Arabic so their partners didn't have any clue as to what their real intentions or what their real values were. And do we think, looking back, that these marriages were essentially a sham or was it genuine romance, do you think?

5:28It's hard to say but prosecutors believe that they were actually quite calculating in all the decisions that they took and that when they moved to the UK they did so with a particular intention of furthering ISIS's goals and that when they worked diligently and saved money, it was really with the ultimate purpose of an attack in mind. So effectively they were undercover sleeper agents who were biding their time.

6:03OK, so Bilal, the younger brother, moves north first in 2014. When does Waleed join him? Well, he moves to Wigan in around 2023 after selling his restaurant in Great Yarmouth. Ostensibly, it's to be nearer Bilal, but prosecutors believe that actually this is just another step in the plan and that he's moving to Greater Manchester really to ramp up plans for an atrocity in Manchester and for his own martyrdom. What do we know about when and why they became radicalised and obsessed with this idea of killing Jews? Waleed Zadawi is very active on Facebook disseminating propaganda from ISIS's news agency.

6:42He's also involved in Facebook groups that valorised the Bataclan attack. Right, in Paris. In Paris, back in 2015, in which 130 people were killed. Things really ramp up around October 7, 2023. In the form of Hamas gunmen on paragliders infiltrating into Israeli territory. And this was done under the cover of... There were a number of call to arms around this time. And what they did was urge supporters to launch attacks against Jewish and Western targets. Lone wolf attacks. And basically he decides that it is his time. So we have these two Tunisian brothers, the Sadawis. But there is also a third man involved here, isn't there?

7:27He's called Ammar Hussein. What else do we know about him? So Ammar Hussein is Kurdish. He tells people he'd served in Saddam Hussein's army in Iraq. He's older than Walid Zadawi, now 38. His younger brother, Bilal Sanoi, is 37. Ammar Hussein is 52. And there's almost a sense that he feels that his life hasn't had much purpose because he hasn't committed an act of terror and he hasn't martyred himself. So Amar Hussein works in this white goods shop in Bolton. And he's also part of this secret jihadist circle that they've got in the northwest of England. It seems that Amar Hussein comes to know Waleed Zadawi through his brother Bilal.

8:14Now, Amar Hussein is a lot more obvious in his inclinations. He tells people quite openly when he gets into confrontations that he's Daesh or ISIS. He dresses wearing a belt that's styled like a suicide belt and presents himself, you know, as a fanatic more openly than Waleed Zadawi does. Waleed Zadawi ends up recruiting Omar Hussain to a terrorism plot, believing that he can get weapons to facilitate one.

8:56So we've got the Zadawi brothers, we've got this Amar Hussain, this older guy, this fanatic, open fanatic. I can't believe he's wearing a belt that looked like a suicide belt. There's a fourth man in this story, isn't there? A man that we know only by the name Farouk. He's arguably the hero of this story. And Farouk is not his real name, is it? So tell me about him and how he met the others. Well, I mentioned earlier that Waleed Zadawi is very active in Facebook groups that are used by jihadis. And effectively, an undercover operative infiltrates one of these groups. Right, working for counter-terror police or something like that.

9:33Working with counter-terror police. And he has enough knowledge of the jihadi subcultures that Waleed Zadawi is immersed in to persuade Zadawi that he's a genuine believer in this extremist creed. And he effectively ends up becoming Waleed Zadawi's confidant. Right. So Farouk, this undercover operative, basically friends Waleed on Facebook, doesn't he? And on the account that Walid is using at the time, his profile picture is of Abdelhamid Aboud. He was the terrorist who was responsible for orchestrating the attacks in Paris in 2015. And Farouk tells him that he used to live five minutes around the corner from Aboud in Belgium.

10:15And that's how they strike up a conversation. I'm going to read some of it out. So Walid dives straight in, thinking clearly that he's chatting to somebody of a like mind. And he tells Farouk, may God preserve you. You need to do what he had done, he being the Paris attacker, make him a role model and carry out operations against the Jews and the Crusaders. And then he asks Farouk how much it would cost to buy an automatic gun. They effectively get talking and as he draws him more into his confidence, Farouk tells him that he can obtain weapons from Morocco. These men are all quite well connected, even though Waleed Zadawi doesn't have access to weapons.

10:57He talks a lot about how he's in conversation with brothers from ISIS and has been in conversation with brothers from ISIS a number of years about an attack and about tactics. What he lacks is the actual weapons to carry it out. There's some suggestion that he's tried to obtain some through organised crime groups. But eventually when he meets Farouk, he thinks this is somebody of a like mind who can arm me. Okay, so they meet on Facebook initially. And when does their relationship move into the real world? When do they meet? They meet in Bolton in Queen's Park in February 2024. And this is about four months after October 7.

11:37And we know from evidence that Farouk would later give against Waleed Zadawi that at this meeting, they discuss semi-automatic weapons. And in fact, Waleed Zadawi hands Farouk£2 ,250 cash deposit. He believes that Farouk is going to get AK-47s from Morocco.

12:09What do we know about what Waleed Sadawi and Amma Hussein were actually plotting to do? The plot was to identify a mass gathering of Jewish people and effectively carry out a marauding firearms attack. They planned to start with a march against anti-Semitism in Manchester City Centre and then move north out of the city to the suburban neighbourhoods where you've got one of Europe's largest Jewish communities and carry on the attack there. And they identify a number of targets. They look at synagogues, they look at the Jewish Museum, they look at schools, they observe people quietly going about their business on a reconnaissance mission, effectively, in North Manchester.

12:59And what they planned to do was divert emergency services all across Manchester by paying people to make hoax 999 calls across the city that would then allow them to carry out this attack. And it's a plot that's really evolved because for a long time, Zadawi has been thinking about attacking people with a knife. After October 7th, he decides he wants to stage something more spectacular. He starts practicing with an air rifle. And then when he meets Farouk, he then thinks he can get the semi-automatic weapons to carry out a Bataclan-style attack like his idol. And had they actually identified a date when they were going to do this attack?

13:41Was there a march against anti-Semitism that was planned? They had spent time and actually joined and attempted to join Facebook groups for members of Manchester's Jewish community looking for targets to attack. And Ulaid Zadawi was quite explicit that the attack had to be in summer. He thought winter would be a failure because there wouldn't be enough people out on the street. Okay. But the key thing is that they want to kill as many Jewish people as possible, and not just adults, but also children, it sounds like, if they're targeting schools. Yes. They actually debate whether to kill police and children.

14:19And Farooq tells the jury that Waleed admits that he discussed with Amar Hussain about whether it was right to target the children. and they talk about a hadith that regards children that says not to kill an elderly person or a female or a child and he rationalizes it to himself by saying it's okay now because back then we were dominant and now we're humiliated what we the muslims as he sees it and he says that jewish airstrikes are attacking muslim people left right and center and as far as he sees it there's no differentiation in those airstrikes so there should be no differentiation in his revenge.

14:58Right. And Walid and Farouk actually go on a recce to North Manchester, don't they, in March 2024. And they go to an area of Higher Broughton and Presswich and they pass synagogues, Jewish nurseries, Jewish schools, kosher shops, kosher cafes. And this, of course, was all recorded for counter-terror police because Farouk was working for them. And there's one bit that really struck me where Walid looks at all of the Jewish people around him and he says to Farouk, these are the killers of the messengers and prophets. And at one point they pass a school and Walid says, this is a school, this one.

15:34It is school time. There's one and a half hour left. We will go to poison them. We will put poison in the water, their children, their cars and their houses. It's just horrifying.

15:50Did they think that they would die too in this attack? Martyrdom was actually central to their plans. Neither man expected to survive the attack. And Waleed Zadawi made preparations for his death. He's taught his wife to drive. So he's taught his wife to drive what? Because she couldn't drive and he thinks, well, she's going to be stuck without me as a taxi driver. to give us some independence when he's not around. He buried£74 ,000 in cash. That's some of the proceeds from the sale of his restaurant in a safe, in the concrete floor of a shed in his garden for his family. And he gave his brother the key.

16:29So he was very clearly preparing for his own death. And he actually says that he hopes that there's one AK-47 that's left over that he could pass to his son so that when his son, who was then a toddler, grows up, he can carry on his father's work. Oh my goodness. What other preparations did they make for this attack? They make reconnaissance trips to Dover in March 2024 and in May 2024, basically trying to track the route that they think that the guns are going to come in from Morocco, the ones that they believe that Farouk are going to secure for them. March 2024, Farouk has an hour-long phone call with Walid, and he tells Walid that he's now got four machine guns in Morocco and that they've been test-fired in front of him.

17:15It's these semi-automatic weapons that they think are going to be arriving via Dover for their attack in Manchester. And then it's really interesting, isn't it, the role that Farouk had to play in this plot. Particularly walking quite a narrow tightrope in terms of he has to make Waleed believe that he is legit, but I guess he has to also not be entrapping Waleed to just be documenting what he was already planning, rather than coaxing him into doing something that he hadn't actually planned to do. Yeah, it posed a real ethical challenge for police. And there's even a senior detective in the case described at one point that he actually had sleepless nights thinking about the risk that these men could go off and do something.

18:00But essentially police decided that this method was the best way of containing the threat and getting the strongest prosecution. They believe that Waleed Zadawi was sufficiently well connected that he might be able to get weapons on his own. Farouk has to convince him that he can get those weapons and then effectively, if they can get him trying to get the weapons, they've got enough to put him away for a very long time. Whereas if they were to, say, charge him earlier with, say, a lesser offence like disseminating material, it would be a risk that he would serve a short sentence, come out and still be a real danger to the public.

18:42It is, of course, something that preys on the mind, because in managing risk, one always has to have at the forefront of your mind how far do you allow the risk to run while simultaneously safeguarding the public. And these are nuanced decisions which are frequently made by great people in the small hours under pressure of time. There is no playbook for it. Their reasoning was we're going to use Farouk to prove that they were serious. Yes. Very serious. So serious that they wanted hundreds of rounds of ammunition and these semi-automatic weapons. And how are they eventually caught? They're eventually caught because the day comes where Waleed Zadawi believes that these weapons are going to be handed to him.

19:32And there's a rendezvous at the Last Drop Hotel in Bolton. Okay, so Walid is meeting Farouk, the undercover cop who has got this arsenal of weapons in the boot. And literally, Walid is overjoyed to see him. And the two men embrace for a really long time. They hug each other. Walid actually wells up and gets quite emotional, thinking that it's about to happen. And Walid goes over to Farouk's car. Farouk having told him that his Lexus has got the weapons in the boot. and Waleed Zadawi's at the boot of the car in which you've got hundreds of rounds of ammunition, you've got a semi-automatic pistol, you've got two assault rifles.

20:13He thinks the moment has come when he's finally about to take possession of these weapons and make this plot a reality and that's when police swoop. Waleed Zadawi runs from the police and they go to grab him. A police on the fucking floor! So there are actual real weapons then in Farouk's car? Real weapons, but crucially deactivated weapons. Okay. And the reason they went to those lengths was just to show that he, just to prove then that Waleed knew exactly what was happening here. Exactly. The charge here is preparing for acts of terrorism. So effectively, he's at the point where he is taking possession of weapons to commit an act of terrorism.

20:54Okay, so the police swoop on the hotel car park to arrest Waleed. And then they go and pick up his little brother, Bilal. You do not have to say anything, but it may harm your defence. Who wasn't planning to take part in the attacks, but certainly knew what Walid was planning. Did you understand the caution? Something related to terrorism, is it? It's all related to terrorism, yeah. What basis? That's what I want to tell you now. OK. And when does Walid find out who Farouk really is? Yeah, it takes a while for the penny to drop with Walid Dadawi that he's been set up. You met at the last drop earlier on today.

21:32Sorry, earlier yesterday. It's not until his police interview the day after arrest when officers tell him that Farouk is an undercover operative... Undercover operative. ..that he actually realises. Like I said to you before, whether he's undercover or not, I was not expecting any guns to come over. I was not involved in any planning of harming people.

22:03Waleed and his younger brother and Amar Hussain all went on trial last year at Preston Crown Court. And I know that you were there. They all denied the charges against them. And reading your coverage, it gave a really fascinating, if extremely grim, insight into the mindset and the tactics of this secret IS network of lone wolves. What was their defence? In terms of Walid, he argues that he thinks that Farouk is a genuine Islamic State member and that he's playing along with him, that he doesn't agree with killing innocent people, that he's not a jihadist and that actually what he really wanted to do was sabotage somebody else's plot by going along with it.

22:47Was he then going to call the police? What was he planning to do then when he took ownership of this massive cache of weapons in that hotel car park? He says he's planning on cutting up the weapons with an angle grinder and then setting up a meeting to allow police to arrest the other plotters. Okay. And then, so he was essentially saying that he was going to sabotage Farouk's plans and he was going to be the hero that saves the day rather than the villain. And what about his little brother, Bilal? But he was charged with failing to report and having knowledge of the plot and not saying anything.

23:18And basically, he argues that a lot of the evidence of mindset, whether it's music on his phone, which has been produced by ISIS, or messages he sent that show a kind of jihadi creed, he basically says that they don't reflect his own views. and jurors get shown a compilation video that's been created by Bilal Zadari himself working out at the gym it's got selfies of him

23:54and a nasheed in the background that references jihad is playing the sheeds are just devotional muslim songs but there are particular ones produced by the media arm of isis and the lyric translated said those Those who said there's no jihad or fight have lied, for our jihad will continue until the day of resurrection and the end of time. So when he's being questioned about these nasheeds that are on his phone, he tells the jury, I listen to all kinds of music and nasheeds happened to be Muslim and it was available on the internet. I listen to nasheeds, I listen to Arabic music, I listen to rap music, including French rap and Arabic rap music.