Khatib became interested in radical Islam at school
A British Muslim has been convicted of conspiring to murder civilians in a "deadly terrorist attack".
Adam Khatib, a factory worker from Walthamstow, east London, was part of a terror cell taking orders from Pakistan.
The cell was led by Abdullah Ahmed Ali who is already serving a life sentence for plotting to blow up transatlantic passenger airliners in what prosecutors described as an act of terrorism "on an almost unprecedented scale".
Khatib, who was a teenager when he was arrested, was a "loyal partner and servant" to Ali, travelling with him to Pakistan where it is believed the men received instructions from militants linked to al-Qaeda.
Prosecutor Peter Wright QC said: "Khatib may not have been informed of the ultimate target, namely passenger aircraft... all that was required of him was an agreement to play his part in bringing about the murder of others."
But it is understood investigators believed Khatib was planning to be one of the team who would take a bomb onto a plane.
Jihadi network
The 23-year-old had gone off the rails as a teenager when he became fascinated by radical Islam.
Signing one of his school assignments "Adam Osama Bin Laden", Khatib became a cause for concern to teachers worried about his increasingly extreme views, including anti-Semitic outbursts in the classroom.
After leaving school, he befriended Abdullah Ahmed Ali, who is six years older. Ali egged on his younger charge and in June 2005 he took him to Pakistan, introducing him to a network of jihadis.
Khatib, who has a Mauritian father and British mother, told the court he was curious to see the world.
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