December 20, 2008	Saturday	Zilhaj 21, 1429

LONDON, Dec 19: Rangzieb Ahmed, 33, a Briton presumably of Pakistani origin convicted of running an Al Qaeda terror cell, was jailed for life on Friday, with the judge directing that he must serve a minimum of 10 years before he can be considered for parole.

The man was the first person to be convicted by a British court of the charge of directing a terrorist organisation.

He was also convicted of membership of Al Qaeda, after the jury at Manchester crown court heard evidence that he ran a three-man terrorist cell that was preparing to commit murder.

The jury did not hear that three of Ahmed’s fingernails had been removed, however, nor that he alleges they were torn out with pliers by Pakistani intelligence agents, shortly before he was interviewed by officers from MI5.

Ahmed’s accusations echo those of a number of other British terrorists and terrorism suspects detained in Pakistan in recent years, who say they suffered brutal mistreatment at the hands of the country’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency before being questioned by British intelligence officers.

Ahmed’s lawyers are planning to appeal against his conviction and launch a civil action on his behalf, accusing British authorities of failing in their duty of care to protect him during 13 months that he spent in Pakistani custody, after being detained in August 2006.

The prosecution did not rely on anything that was gleaned during his interrogation, however, and the case was based largely upon surveillance evidence gathered in Dubai and the UK before he was detained in Pakistan.

“I am satisfied you are dedicated to the cause of Islamic terrorism. You are an intelligent, capable and superficially reasonable man who is involved in terrorism. That makes you an extremely dangerous man,” said Mr Justice Saunders.

One of Ahmed’s accomplices, Habib Ahmed, 29, a Manchester taxi driver who is not related, was jailed for 10 years, after being convicted of being a member of Al Qaeda.

The report describes in harrowing details how Rangzieb Ahmed was allegedly tortured by the ISI.

The Guardian on Friday published a photograph showing Ahmed’s injuries, which was produced in open court. The paper claimed that it had obtained the photograph despite attempts by the Crown Prosecution Service to prevent it being made public. The CPS had considered arguing that it should not be released because the copyright was owned by Greater Manchester police and even contemplated asking that a court hearing on the issue of copyright should be heard “in camera”, with the media and public excluded.