Gang jailed for plot to behead UK soldier

The leader of a plot to behead a Muslim soldier in the British army and release a video of the murder to the media was jailed…

The leader of a plot to behead a Muslim soldier in the British army and release a video of the murder to the media was jailed today for at least 14 years.

Parviz Khan (37) was described in a Leicester court as a violent Islamic extremist who wanted to spread panic among the armed forces and the wider public.

Prosecutors said the British and Pakistani passport holder was angry that Muslims were serving in the British army, which militants portray as fighting Islam in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The father-of-three pleaded guilty last month to charges including the beheading plot, which was foiled a year ago.

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Khan also admitted sending equipment such as night-vision cameras, balaclavas and computers to Pakistan to be used by militants fighting US and British troops in Afghanistan.

Khan planned to enlist drug dealers to help kidnap a Muslim soldier on a night out in Birmingham. The victim was to be seized, bundled into a car and taken to a lock-up garage, the court in Leicester was told.

"He would be murdered by having his head cut off like a pig," prosecutor Nigel Rumfitt said. Prosecutors said the expression "like a pig" was Khan's own. Film of the killing would then be released to Arab television station al-Jazeera.

Several other men were also on trial with Khan. Four were jailed for between two and seven years for their roles in the plot.