A couple allegedly planned to carry out a terror attack with an improvised explosive device after bonding over their shared Islamic extremism on the Muslim dating website SingleMuslim.com.
The Old Bailey heard Monday that Munir Hassan Mohammed, 36, and Rowaida El-Hassan, 33, had shared videos of Islamic State jihadists beheading prisoners and recruiting children to the terror organisation on WhatsApp as their love blossomed.
Mohammed, an Eritrean national who was seeking asylum in the UK, was arrested in December 2016, along with University College London graduate El-Hassan following separate raids in Derbyshire and London. Both are charged with an offence under section 5 of the Terrorism Act 2006 – preparation of terrorist acts.
It is alleged that the Eritrean had been radicalised after contacting Abubakr Kurdi on Facebook, a suspected Islamic State commander who has celebrated the terrorist attacks in Nice, Normandy, and Orlando and called for lone wolf attacks.
Jurors heard that by the time Mohammed had set up a dating profile to look for a wife, he had allegedly committed to carrying out a terrorist attack.
Qualified pharmacist El-Hassan, who was on SingleMuslim.com looking for “a man who fears Allah before anything else”, bonded with Mohammed, allegedly using her knowledge of chemicals to help Mohammed research bombmaking. full story