LONDON: A London taxi driver who made bombs targeting coalition troops in the Iraq war was on Thursday convicted in a British court of murdering a US soldier eight years ago.

Anis Sardar, 38, built an improvised explosive device (IED) which killed Sergeant First Class Randy Johnson of 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment when it exploded under his armoured vehicle outside Baghdad on September 27, 2007.

He was apprehended when the US Federal Bureau of Investigation found his fingerprints on two bombs which were planted in the area at the time, although not the one which killed Johnson.

Sue Hemming, head of special crime and counter terrorism at Britain’s Crown Prosecution Service, called it a “landmark” prosecution which showed that “international borders are no barrier to terrorists in the UK being brought to justice”.

“Anis Sardar is a highly dangerous man who created bombs so large that not only did they tragically kill Sgt Randy Johnson, but they put other lives in danger and caused significant damage to heavily armoured US military vehicles,” she added.

“He knew precisely what he was doing and was working with murderous intent against coalition forces”.

Published in Dawn, May 22nd, 2015

On a mobile phone? Get the Dawn Mobile App: Apple Store | Google Play