Manchester bomb mastermind who planned 'as big a plot as we've seen in the UK' has appeal rejected

Manchester bomb mastermind Abid Naseer, who planned “as big a plot as we've seen in the UK” has had his bid to be set free early thrown out by a US judge.

The 39-year-old had demanded his 40-year sentence be reduced to 15 years, making him eligible for release and a possible return to the UK. Pakistani-born Naseer had argued that after one of his convictions of providing material support to and other charges was vacated, he should be resentenced.

But Chief Judge Debra Livingston dismissed his appeal. The Second Circuit Appeals court agreed with the lower court's ruling that “Although Naseer’s counts of 18 conviction now change with the vacatur of Count Ten, the conduct in which he engaged and for 19 which this Court deemed a forty-year sentence appropriate, has not.”

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Naseer, federal prisoner 05770-748, is currently being held at MCFP Springfield in Missouri. The unit is a medical facility and nicknamed "The Fed Med” or "The Country Club" due to its softer approach to federal prison standards.

Police and the UK government were heavily criticised for their handling of Naseer and for failing to bring charges in Britain. He was first arrested in 2009 in an anti-terrorism operation, but authorities did not pursue charges citing a lack of evidence. US prosecutors later named him in an indictment alleging a broader conspiracy that included the failed New York City subway plot, and he was extradited to the US in 2013.

Authorities accused Naseer of playing a major part in a global al-Qaeda plot to launch coordinated attacks in Manchester, Copenhagen and New York. The attacks were designed to "replicate the devastation" of the attacks on 11 September 2001.

Greater Manchester Police's chief investigating officer in the case, Detective Superintendent Mark Smith, said it was "as big a plot as we've seen in the UK, quite seriously”. He said: "The scale of the intended attack, the number of casualties that I think we would have seen in Manchester, would have been comparable to the 7/7 attack."

To assist with the US government's case, serving undercover agents gave evidence in full public view, disguised with wigs and makeup. Following his sentence, police revealed Naseer’s plot involved blowing up a car in. Manchester, which was to be parked just 100 metres from the spot where the IRA detonated a lorry bomb in 1996.

His accomplices were due to lie in wait on nearby Market Street to detonate suicide bombs as shoppers fled the scene. Emails sent from an internet café near Naseer's home had been intercepted in the weeks before his arrest. The final message led police to believe an attack was imminent.

Known as the "Hi Buddy" email because of the way it greeted an al-Qaeda operative, it reads: "I met with Nadia family and we both parties have agreed to conduct the nikah after the 15th and before 20th of this month. I have confirmed the dates from them and they said you should be ready between these dates."

The jury was told female names, including Nadia, represented different ingredients used to make bombs. Wedding, or 'nikah', was a standard al-Qaeda code for a terror attack. Based on the Islamic calendar, investigators believed this email was referring to a planned attack during the Easter weekend in 2009.

Police estimated that "hundreds" would have been killed or maimed if the plot had succeeded. After sentencing, Detective Chief Superintendent Tony Mole of Greater Manchester Police said: "Abid Naseer has finally seen justice for the terrorist atrocities he planned to orchestrate against the people of Greater Manchester. A sentence of 40 years, we believe, is a fitting punishment for a man who came so close to carrying out what would have been one of the horrific terrorist acts seen in the UK since the 7/7 bombings.

He added: "They planned to strike on Easter Weekend, the second busiest shopping day of the year, when between 40,000 and 90,000 people would have been in the targeted areas throughout the weekend.” During his two-week trial in New York in 2015, jurors heard evidence from Afghan bomb plotter Najibullah Zazi, who pleaded guilty to plotting to bomb the New York City subways.

US prosecutors said he shared an al Qaeda contact with Naseer, who was was trained in bomb making at a terror camp. Lawyers also provided evidence from material seized during the Navy SEAL raid that killed in May 2011 as he hid out in Abbottabad, Pakistan. Naseer, who conducted his defence, said the US government had misinterpreted harmless emails he wrote about marriage plans.

Detective Chief Superintendent Mole also urged “everyone in our communities” to help in the fight. As he handed down Naseer's sentence, US District Judge Raymond Dearie told him: "I know you're not what I'd say for any lack of a better word a 'typical' criminal. Not in any sense of the word. You're a terrorist."