A Taliban bomb-maker who was arrested metres from the gates of parliament armed with knives has been convicted of plotting to kill police and MPs.

Khalid Ali, 28, disappeared in 2011 from his family home in north London and dropped out of sight for nearly six years while he built hundreds of bombs at an al-Qaida-linked Taliban training camp in Afghanistan.

Upon his return to Britain in November 2016 he was stopped at Heathrow and his fingerprints were matched to records held by the FBI in the US, who had found the same prints on bomb components seized in Afghanistan. The match triggered a UK investigation into Ali involving covert surveillance.

Ali, a plumber, was ultimately stopped in a dramatic arrest that was caught on video in April last year near the Palace of Westminster. He was carrying three knives. Further investigation revealed he had staked out potential targets including New Scotland Yard, the MI6 headquarters and parliament.

On Tuesday he was convicted by a jury at the Old Bailey of two counts of possessing an explosive substance in relation to his activities in Afghanistan and one count of preparing terrorist acts in relation to his plans in Westminster.

The deputy assistant commissioner Dean Haydon, Scotland Yard’s senior national coordinator for counter-terrorism policing, said “Ali was an incredibly dangerous individual who had returned from a training camp in Afghanistan with a determination to kill police officers, the military or parliamentarians here in the UK.”

Ali, a naturalised British citizen, told his parents he was going to Birmingham on a plumbing job before he disappeared in 2011. “He left the UK and ended up in Afghanistan, in a Taliban training camp affiliated to al-Qaida, where for several years he helped terrorists make hundreds of bombs capable of mass murder,” Haydon said.

In October 2016 he resurfaced at the British consulate in Turkey, where he requested temporary travel documents to return to the UK. When he came through Heathrow in November 2016 he was stopped and his fingerprints were taken. They were shared with US authorities who matched them to bomb components found on two caches of explosives recovered in 2012 in Afghanistan.

He told officers at time he was part of a charity convoy to Palestine in 2010, and claimed to have gone to Pakistan after he was put pressed into marrying a “gold-digger”. He also claimed MI5 had tried to recruit him as a “James Bond”-type spy before he left the UK.

With an investigation under way, Ali was seen in April last year buying knives in Edmonton, London, and dumping the packaging in a bin.

The same night the police received a call from his mother raising concerns about his aggressive behaviour after she found four knives in his bedroom. After speaking to officers, Ali left the family home and the knives behind.

But on 28 April he rearmed himself at a shop, Wilko, in Ealing, where he bought three knives - an 8in chef’s knife and two 3.4in paring blades - and other items such as a potato masher. He went to a gym in Ealing where he put the knives in a rucksack and discarded the other items, before heading to central London on the underground.

When firearms officers arrested him metres from parliament he had a knife in each of his jacket’s pockets and the other knife in the waistband of his trousers.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The knives Ali was carrying when arrested outside parliament. Photograph: PA

On his way to parliament he had thrown a phone into the Thames on Victoria embankment, which was recovered by officers. Ali’s internet history and phone data revealed he had conducted detailed Google Street View searches of the MI6 building, and he also had numerous images of police officers.

Police also trawled through CCTV footage that showed Ali’s whereabouts before his arrest. This included footage of him carrying out “hostile reconnaissance” in relation to potential targets including the MI6 building, New Scotland Yard, the Houses of Parliament, Downing Street and Westminster Bridge.

Asked how it was possible for Ali to get so far before he was stopped, Haydon said: “There was surveillance but we won’t go into any further details of that surveillance. Police and security services were managing any potential risk that he posed. He was arrested at the most appropriate time. We are convinced he was going to target the police, military, our security services or parliamentarians.”

Asked if there was any evidence of Ali continuing to access extremist material after he returned to UK, or was in contact with extremists in the UK or overseas, Haydon answered: “His acts were years in the planning … I’d describe him as a lone actor. We have no evidence to indicate he is part of a wider network and associated with others here in the UK. Most of his activities and training were in Afghanistan. He’d come back here with murderous intentions.”

The government’s anti-radicalisation Channel programme, part of its Prevent strategy, was not considered appropriate for Ali, as it deals with people who are yet to commit – or not yet suspected of committing – a criminal offence.

Haydon said: “When he was arrested and interviewed, he boasted to officers initially that he had built about 300 different bombs. If you go to the region of Afghanistan and into the borders of Pakistan, where the Taliban and al-Qaida are most active, I’m in no doubt those bombs were used against coalition forces and to kill, maim and injure coalition forces. He posed a significant risk but that was a risk we were managing [by] various covert means.”



In police interview, Ali said he wanted to deliver a “message” to British authorities, but claimed the knives were for protection. When asked if he had returned for jihad, he replied: “Jihad is what we do. We are mujahideen.”

He admitted involvement in IEDs in Afghanistan, even bragging he detonated more than 300 devices, although he later backtracked.

Giving evidence, Ali went on to claim he had been held captive by the Taliban and forced to make bombs.</s>Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption How police tracked and caught plumber-turned-bomb maker Khalid Ali

A British plumber has been convicted of planning a terror attack in Westminster and making bombs for the Taliban.

Khalid Ali, 28, was arrested on 27 April 2017 in Parliament Street, where he was caught carrying three knives.

Prosecutors said Ali, from Edmonton in north London, had planned a "murderous attack" on politicians and police.

In a police interview, Ali said he wanted to deliver a "message" to British authorities, but claimed the knives were for protection.

An Old Bailey jury convicted him of preparing an act of terrorism in the UK and two counts of possessing an explosive substance with intent. He did not react as the verdicts were read out.

Ali will be sentenced on 20 July.

On 22 April last year - one month after the Westminster terror attack - Ali was caught on CCTV walking past the MI6 building at Vauxhall Cross, as well as Westminster Bridge, the Houses of Parliament and Whitehall.

Five days later, his mother called police and said she had found four knives in his bedroom.

Police swooped in to arrest him just metres from Downing Street later that day.

Ali had spent several years in Afghanistan, and when asked by British police whether he had returned to the UK for jihad, he replied: "Jihad is what we do. We are Mujahideen."

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Dean Haydon described Ali as an "incredibly dangerous individual".

Prosecutor Brian Altman QC had told the jury that Ali planned a "deadly terror attack at the very heart of this country's democracy by killing a police officer, a member of the military or even a parliamentarian".

DNA samples

Ali travelled to Afghanistan in 2011 and spent five years making bombs to maim and kill coalition troops.

In late October 2016, he appeared at the British consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, claiming to have lost his passport and asking for a temporary travel document in order to get home.

He returned to the UK in early November 2016, when he was stopped at Heathrow airport, interviewed by police and had his fingerprints and DNA samples taken.

The DNA samples and fingerprints were then shared with the FBI, which controls a database containing fingerprints found on bomb parts in global conflict zones.

FBI agents found 42 prints linking Ali to improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in Afghanistan.

Defending the decision not to arrest Ali until April 2017 - when he was armed and within metres of Parliament - Mr Haydon said police and security services were "managing any potential risk he posed and he was arrested at the most appropriate time".

Image copyright Met Police Image caption Ali's prints were found on bomb components from two caches recovered by Afghan national security forces

During questioning after his arrest, Ali admitted fighting British soldiers in Afghanistan, but refused to say whether he had killed any.

In a police interview shown during the trial, Ali also said he had detonated more than 300 bombs.

The court heard how his fingerprints were found on component parts of explosive devices that were handed in to US forces in Afghanistan in 2012.

Police said Ali had been in a "Taliban training camp affiliated to al-Qaeda where, for several years, he helped terrorists make hundreds of bombs capable of mass murder".</s>A Taliban bombmaker has been found guilty of plotting a terror attack on MPs and police outside the Houses of Parliament

Khalid Ali, 28, was planning to stab police officers and politicians when he was arrested in Whitehall on 27 April last year.

He had not long returned to the UK after spending five years building bombs in Afghanistan.

Ali's mother had called 999 the evening before the thwarted attack after finding four knives lying on the floor by his bed.

When stopped near Downing Street and asked if he was carrying weapons, Ali told police: 'You'll see.'

Ali set out on his mission 'armed to the teeth' on 27 April last year, just a month after Khalid Masood ploughed into pedestrians on Westminster Bridge and murdered PC Keith Palmer.

He had spent five years building and detonating hundreds of bombs in Afghanistan after pledging his loyalty to Al Qaeda and the Taliban, the Old Bailey heard.

Ali later warned that the West should leave the Muslim lands, that Palestine should be returned, and that the West should release its prisoners of war.

'If he hadn't had been stopped, who knows how many more people would be lying dead or mortally wounded on the streets of Westminster,' said Brian Altman QC, prosecuting.

'That was to be his message; a killing in the heart of Westminster, a spectacular, making headline news around the world.'

The court heard Ali was given British citizenship in April 2003, 11 years after his family moved to the UK from Saudi Arabia.

He denied one count of preparation of terrorist acts and two of possessing explosive substances with intent but was today convicted of all three counts.

The court had heard how Ali's family in Edmonton, north London, reported him missing in June 2011 after he disappeared without warning.

He resurfaced at the British Consulate in Turkey more than five years later, claiming he had lost his passport.

In November 2016, the loyal Taliban and al Qaida follower was stopped at Heathrow Airport, interviewed by police and his fingerprints and DNA samples were taken.

He told officers he had been involved in a Road to Hope convoy to Palestine in 2010 and claimed to have gone to Pakistan, after he was put under pressure to marry a 'gold-digger'.

He also claimed MI5 had tried to recruit him as a 'James Bond'-type spy before he left the UK.

In late 2016, Ali's DNA and fingerprints were shared with the FBI agents and 42 prints linked him to the IEDs in Afghanistan.

Just after midnight on April 27, his mother called police, saying she had found four knives in her son's bedroom and she was scared he was going to kill the family.

The jury, who deliberated over three days, heard Ali had bought the blades two days before at The Mighty Pound in Ealing, west London, and had been seen by surveillance officers to throw away the packaging.

After leaving his mother's home, Ali went to Ealing where he set about rearming himself with an 8in chef's knife and two 3.4in paring blades from Wilko, purchasing other kitchen utensils including a potato masher as cover.

He also bought a rucksack with a Union Jack and London logo on it, before travelling by Tube to carry out his attack, which came just four weeks after the Westminster Bridge killings.

He deliberately dropped his mobile phone into the Thames, but it was later recovered by police divers.

When armed police moved in to arrest Ali, the knives were seized from his jacket pockets and the waistband of his tracksuit bottoms.</s>A Taliban bomb-maker who was arrested metres from the gates of parliament armed with knives has been convicted of plotting to kill police and MPs.

Khalid Ali, 28, disappeared in 2011 from his family home in north London and dropped out of sight for nearly six years while he built hundreds of bombs at an al-Qaida-linked Taliban training camp in Afghanistan.

Upon his return to Britain in November 2016 he was stopped at Heathrow and his fingerprints were matched to records held by US authorities, who had found the same prints on bomb components seized in Afghanistan. The match triggered a UK investigation into Ali involving covert surveillance.

Ali, a plumber by trade, was ultimately stopped in a dramatic arrest that was caught on video in April last year near the Palace of Westminster. He was carrying three knives. Further investigation revealed he had staked out potential targets including New Scotland Yard, MI6’s Thames-side headquarters and parliament.

On Tuesday he was convicted by a jury at the Old Bailey of two counts of possessing an explosive substance in relation to his activities in Afghanistan and one count of preparing terrorist acts in relation to his plans in Westminster.

The deputy assistant commissioner Dean Haydon, Scotland Yard’s senior national coordinator for counter-terrorism policing, said “Ali was an incredibly dangerous individual who had returned from a training camp in Afghanistan with a determination to kill police officers, the military or parliamentarians here in the UK.”

Ali, a naturalised British citizen, told his parents he was going to Birmingham on a plumbing job before he disappeared in 2011. “He left the UK and ended up in Afghanistan, in a Taliban training camp affiliated to al-Qaida, where for several years he helped terrorists make hundreds of bombs capable of mass murder,” Haydon said.

In October 2016 he resurfaced at the British consulate in Turkey, where he requested temporary travel documents to return to the UK. When he came through Heathrow airport in November 2016 he was stopped and his fingerprints were taken. They were shared with US counterparts who in turn matched them to bomb components found in Afghanistan.

With an investigation under way, Ali was seen in April last year buying knives in Edmonton, London, and dumping the packaging in a bin.

The same night the police received a call from his mother raising concerns about his aggressive behaviour after she found four knives in his bedroom. The knives were seized.

On 28 April he rearmed himself at a shop in Ealing, where he bought three knives and other items such as a potato masher. He went to a gym in Ealing where he put the knives in a rucksack and discarded the other items, before heading to central London on the underground.

When firearms officers arrested him metres from parliament he had a knife in each of his jacket’s pockets and the other knife in the waistband of his trousers.

On his way to parliament he had thrown a phone into the Thames on Victoria embankment, which was recovered by officers. Ali’s internet history and phone data revealed he had conducted detailed Google Street View searches of the MI6 building, and he also had numerous images of police officers.

Police also trawled through CCTV footage, which showed Ali’s movements in the period leading up to his arrest. This included footage of him carrying out “hostile reconnaissance” in relation to potential targets including the MI6 building, New Scotland Yard, the Houses of Parliament, Downing Street and Westminster Bridge.

Asked how it was possible for Ali to get so far before he was stopped, Haydon said: “There was surveillance but we won’t go into any further details of that surveillance. Police and security services were managing any potential risk that he posed. He was arrested at the most appropriate time. We are convinced he was going to target the police, military, our security services or parliamentarians.”

Asked if there was any evidence Ali continued to access extremist material after he returned to UK, or was in contact with extremists in the UK or overseas, Haydon answered: “His acts were years in the planning … I’d describe him as a lone actor. We have no evidence to indicate he is part of a wider network and associated with others here in the UK. Most of his activities and training were in Afghanistan. He’d come back here with murderous intentions.”

The government’s Channel programme, part of its Prevent strategy, was not considered appropriate for Ali, as it deals with people who are yet to reach a criminal justice threshold. Ali was beyond this threshold.

Haydon said: “When he was arrested and interviewed, he boasted to officers initially that he had built about 300 different bombs. If you go to the region of Afghanistan and into the borders of Pakistan, where the Taliban and al-Qaida are most active, I’m in no doubt those bombs were used against coalition forces and to kill, maim and injure coalition forces. He posed a significant risk but that was a risk we were managing [by] various covert means.”</s>An al Qaida bomb-maker has been found guilty of plotting a knife attack on British MPs and police outside the UK Houses of Parliament.

Khalid Ali, 28, had three blades tucked into his clothes when he was arrested by armed police in Whitehall last April.

The plumber had been in the sights of counter-terrorism police since he returned from Afghanistan, where he spent five years making bombs to maim and kill coalition troops.

More than four months before his arrest, the FBI in the United States matched his fingerprints to two caches of explosives recovered by Afghan forces in 2012.

Following an Old Bailey trial, Ali was found guilty of preparing terrorist acts in Britain and two charges of possessing explosive substances with intent to endanger life abroad.

Three knives were seized when Khalid Ali was detained in Whitehall on April 27 last year (Metropolitan Police/PA)

Prosecutor Brian Altman QC had told the jury that Ali planned a “deadly terror attack at the very heart of this country’s democracy by killing a police officer, a member of the military or even a Parliamentarian”.

He said: “Chillingly, but for the interception of the defendant by police, he would have carried out yet another murderous terror attack in Westminster.”

The court had heard how Ali’s family in Edmonton, north London, reported him missing in June 2011 after he disappeared without warning.

He resurfaced at the British Consulate in Turkey more than five years later, claiming he had lost his passport.

In November 2016, the loyal Taliban and al Qaida follower was stopped at Heathrow Airport, interviewed by police and his fingerprints and DNA samples were taken.

He told officers he had been involved in a Road to Hope convoy to Palestine in 2010 and claimed to have gone to Pakistan, after he was put under pressure to marry a “gold-digger”.

He also claimed MI5 had tried to recruit him as a “James Bond”-type spy before he left the UK.

In late 2016, Ali’s DNA and fingerprints were shared with the FBI agents and 42 prints linked him to the IEDs in Afghanistan.

Meanwhile, he had resolved to carry out an attack on Westminster to “send a message” to British authorities, jurors were told.

On March 18 last year, he carried out reconnaissance under the cover of a Stand Up To Racism march, which took him past Downing Street and the Cenotaph.

On April 22 last year, he was caught on CCTV walking past the MI6 building at Vauxhall Cross, as well as Westminster Bridge, the Houses of Parliament and Whitehall.

Khalid Ali was captured in Berwick Street, London, carrying out reconnaissance in Whitehall during a march on March 18 2017 (Metropolitan Police/PA)

Just after midnight on April 27, his mother called police, saying she had found four knives in her son’s bedroom and she was scared he was going to kill the family.

The jury, who deliberated over three days, heard Ali had bought the blades two days before at The Mighty Pound in Ealing, west London, and had been seen by surveillance officers to throw away the packaging.

After leaving his mother’s home, Ali went to Ealing where he set about rearming himself with an 8in chef’s knife and two 3.4in paring blades from Wilko, purchasing other kitchen utensils including a potato masher as cover.

He also bought a rucksack with a Union Jack and London logo on it, before travelling by Tube to carry out his attack, which came just four weeks after the Westminster Bridge killings.

He deliberately dropped his mobile phone into the Thames, but it was later recovered by police divers.

When armed police moved in to arrest Ali, the knives were seized from his jacket pockets and the waistband of his tracksuit bottoms.

The moment Khalid Ali was detained in Whitehall on April 27 last year (Metropolitan Police/PA)

In police interview, Ali said he wanted to deliver a “message” to British authorities, but claimed the knives were for protection.

When asked if he had returned for jihad, he replied: “Jihad is what we do. We are Mujahideen.”

He admitted involvement in IEDs in Afghanistan, even bragging he detonated more than 300 devices, although he later backtracked.

Giving evidence, Ali went on to claim he had been held captive by the Taliban and forced to make bombs.

On why he was armed on the day of his arrest, he said: “I had the knives ready to kill, but only in self-defence.”

Khalid Ali bragged about detonating IEDs in his police interview (Metropolitan Police/PA)

Following his conviction, Deputy Assistant Commissioner Dean Haydon said: “This case demonstrates how close the UK counter-terrorism network works with partners and allies to bring to justice those seeking to harm others across the world.

“He is an incredibly dangerous individual who had returned from a terrorist training camp in Afghanistan with a determination to kill, we believe, police, the military or Parliamentarians in the UK.”

He said there was a “time lag” between the FBI linking Ali to the Taliban bombs and his arrest because “due legal process” needed to be followed to collect the evidence from abroad.

He defended the decision not to move in before Ali was armed and within metres of the Houses of Parliament, saying police and security services were “managing any potential risk he posed and he was arrested at the most appropriate time”.</s>“But for the interception of the defendant by police, he would have carried out yet another murderous terror attack in Westminster” Khalid Ali, 28, was today found guilty of plotting a terrorist attack at the Houses of Parliament by a jury at the Old Bailey. The Al Qaeda bomb-maker was arrested in April last year outside Parliament with three blades tucked into his clothes. Ali, a plumber from Edmonton north London, spent five years in Afghanistan learning how to make bombs and kill coalition troops. Prosecuting, Brian Altman QC told the jury Ali planned a "deadly terror attack at the very heart of this country's democracy by killing a police officer, a member of the military or even a Parliamentarian".

He went on: "Chillingly, but for the interception of the defendant by police, he would have carried out yet another murderous terror attack in Westminster." The court heard how Ali's family reported him missing in June 2011. He resurfaced five years later at the British Consulate in Turkey claiming he'd lost his passport. Just months before his failed attack, the Taliban and Al Qaida fighter scouted out the planned location of his attack, under the cover of a Stand Up To Racism march which went past Downing Street and the Cenotaph.

Just after midnight on April 27, Ali's mother called police to say she had found four knives in her son's bedroom and was scared he was going to kill the family. Ali was seen on CCTV buying the knives two days earlier in Ealing, west London. The failed attack came just four weeks after the deadly Westminster Bridge killings. When armed police swooped in to arrest Ali, knives were found in his jacket pockets and in the waistband of his tracksuit bottoms.

In a police interview, Ali said he wanted to deliver "a message" to British authorities, but claimed the knives were for protection. When asked if he'd returned to the UK to commit terror, he replied: "Jihad is what we do. We are Mujahideen." He even bragged about making bombs in Afghanistan, claiming he'd made over 300 improvised explosive devices (IED) for the Taliban. But he later backtracked, saying he'd been held captive and forced to make bombs.

Following his conviction, Dean Haydon from counter-terrorist policing said: "He [Ali] is an incredibly dangerous individual who had returned from a terrorist training camp in Afghanistan with a determination to kill, we believe, police, the military or Parliamentarians in the UK." Ali showed no emotion as he was found guilty of preparing terrorist acts in Britain and two charges of possessing explosive substances with intent to endanger life abroad. He was remanded in custody and will be sentenced on July 20.</s>Yesterday, Khalid Ali was convicted of terror related offences including making bombs for the Taliban.

At the Old Bailey, the jury convicted him of preparing an act of terrorism in the UK and two counts of possessing an explosive substance with intent.

Before his sentencing on 20 July, find out more about Ali and how he was radicalised.

Khalid Mohammed Omar Ali is 28 years old and lives in Edmonton, North London.

His mother is Ethiopian and father Somalian, and he is one of seven siblings.

He was born in Saudi Arabia, where his family had moved to escaping war in Ethiopia. In 1992 they came to the UK.

After leaving school, Ali trained as a gas engineer and plumber.

Around this time, however, he became more interested in politics and travelled to Gaza in 2010 as part of an aid convoy, even appearing on TV.

On his return to the UK he told his family he was moving to Birmingham for work, but then went off-grid for around five years.

His family reported him missing and police searched his laptop, finding Jihadi speeches from extremists on there.

It was later found out that Ali had gone to Afghanistan and joined the Taliban.

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Dean Haydon, senior national co-ordinator for counter-terrorism policing said that while there, ‘for several years he helped terrorists make hundreds of bombs capable of mass murder.’

In 2016 he appeared at the British consulate in Istanbul with no possessions saying he needed travel documents to get home.

He was questioned at Heathrow, where his fingerprints were taken and shared with the FBI, although he was released due to lack of evidence of unlawful activity.

Ali’s prints matched with those found on explosive devices recovered from the Kandahar Region of Afghanistan years earlier, and UK officials applied for US evidence to be declassified so they could prosecute.

In the time this took, although Ali appeared to be readjusting to normal life, he was actually planning a terror attack on British soil.

In April 2017 he was seen acting suspiciously in areas like Downing Street and New Scotland Yard, and his mother found four knives in his room.

She was scared at what they were for and moved them. When he came home, he started an argument with her over this, and she called the police.

Police removed Ali from the family home, and he ramped up his plans to attack.

The next day he purchased three large knives and walked around Westminster, but armed police stepped in before he could make the move.

During questioning he said he was armed only for his own protection and that he was simply trying to give a message to people in parliament about his beliefs.

When asked whether he’d ever detonated the explosives he made he said ‘I have pressed the button… Probably more than 300 times.’

Although Ali changed his story in court, he was yesterday found guilty and will be sentenced next month.

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MORE: When and where is the Donald Trump protest over his UK visit?</s>A British plumber who made bombs in Afghanistan was found guilty Tuesday of planning an attack in London last year, as well as making explosives for the Taliban.

Khalid Ali, 28, from north London, was dramatically arrested by armed police on a street in Westminster in April 2017 with three blades tucked into his clothes.

He was moments from launching an attack on police, politicians or the military, London's Old Bailey court heard during his trial this month.

Prosecutor Brian Altman told jurors that Ali, who had returned to Britain from Afghanistan in late 2016, planned a "deadly terror attack at the very heart of this country's democracy".

The jury deliberated for three days before finding him guilty of preparing terrorist acts in the UK and of two charges of possessing explosive substances with intent to endanger life abroad.

Ali gave no reaction in court as he was convicted. He will be sentenced next month.

Metropolitan Police deputy assistant commissioner Dean Haydon said he was "an incredibly dangerous individual".

He had returned from a training camp in Afghanistan "with a determination to kill," added Haydon.

In police interviews, Ali said he wanted to deliver a "message" to British authorities.

"Jihad is what we do. We are mujahideen," he told officers.

During his trial the court heard Ali admitted involvement in making explosives in Afghanistan, even bragging he detonated more than 300 devices.

Giving evidence, he claimed he had been held captive by the Taliban and forced to make bombs.

Ali's family in Edmonton, north London, had reported him missing in June 2011.

He eventually resurfaced at the British Consulate in Turkey more than five years later, claiming he had lost his passport.

In November 2016, he was stopped at Heathrow Airport, interviewed by police and his fingerprints and DNA samples were taken.

The FBI in the United States subsequently matched his fingerprints to caches of explosives recovered by Afghan forces in 2012, and Ali was placed under surveillance in Britain.

The Old Bailey heard he was seen conducting reconnaissance at various sites around London in March and April last year, before making several purchases of knives.

Police moved in to arrest Ali on April 27 not far from Prime Minister Theresa May's Downing Street office.</s>A north London plumber, who spent years making bombs for the Taliban in Afghanistan, came within yards of launching a deadly knife attack on Downing Street.

Khalid Ali, 28, is now facing life in prison after a jury at the Old Bailey found him guilty of planning an attack

He has also been convicted of possessing explosives, after dozens of his fingerprints were found on bomb components recovered by US forces in Afghanistan.

His trial at the Old Bailey heard how Ali, also a qualified gas-fitter, had been under surveillance by MI5 after returning from Afghanistan in late 2016

He had spent more than five years helping construct hundreds of bombs for the Taliban.

Following his return to the UK, an intelligence database cross matched his fingerprints with 42 separate prints found on dozens of improvised explosive device components.

As police and the security services began preparing a criminal case against Ali, he was being monitored by authorities, when it became clear he was about to launch an attack

Deputy assistant commissioner Dean Haydon, head of counter terror policing in the UK, said Ali was a "highly dangerous individual".

"We were trying to understand what he was up to here and trying to get the evidence from international partners we could use in court, when we became pretty convinced that he'd rearmed himself with knives," he said.

His arrest in April last year came just a month after terrorist Khalid Masood killed pedestrians on Westminster bridge, before fatally stabbing PC Keith Palmer outside the Houses of Parliament.

Prosecutors believe Ali had been planning to target police, members of the military, or parliamentarians around Westminster

The night before the planned attack, Ali's mother had called the police to her home after she discovered a set of kitchen knives on his bedroom floor

But Ali was not arrested and counter-terror officers were not informed about the incident at the time.

Ali was asked to leave the house after his mother told officers she feared for her safety.

The next morning, he bought a new set of knives in Ealing, west London, before heading towards the heart of the capital.

Mr Haydon said: "We were pretty convinced he was about to launch a deadly terrorist attack here in central London and so we intervened."

The jury was shown a video of Ali's arrest, captured on a bodycam carried by one of the armed officers.

It showed armed police running up to the suspect at the junction of Parliament Square and Whitehall and pinning him to the ground.

One of the officers said: "You are under suspicion of being a terrorist," and then asked Ali, "What's your first name?

Ali would not answer, so the officer continued: "Do you have anything on you that may hurt anyone?

As they searched him on the ground, they found a total of three knives.

Two 3.5-inch-long knives were recovered from his jacket pockets.

Police then pulled an eight-inch Sabatier chef's knife from the waistband of Ali's tracksuit bottoms.

They also found a bundle of cash in another pocket.

He claimed later that he was carrying the knives for his own protection and that he simply wanted to deliver a message to leading politicians.

In a police interview he said the message was not for them but for "those who are running the country, that's why I was in the Westminster area", adding it was "for the leaders, those who are the decision-makers".

The message, he claimed was "the same, it always will be, leave their lands, leave the Muslims to do whatever they are doing".

The court heard how Ali had joined a convoy delivering aid to Gaza in 2010, painting himself as caring and compassionate.

But just months later, he left his family in London and headed out to Pakistan and Afghanistan.

In his defence, he told the court he had been kidnapped by the Taliban, suspected of being a British spy and forced into making bombs.

Brian Altman QC, prosecuting, said Ali's version was "a preposterous story from beginning to end" which was "quite literally incredible - a story of riddles and nonsense".

The jury believed that prosecution assertion, finding Ali guilty on all three counts.

He will be sentenced at a later date and faces the prospect of life in prison.</s>A British plumber turned Taliban bomb-maker has been found guilty of planning a knife attack on MPs and police officers outside Westminster. The prosecution described his intent as "chilling".Khalid Ali, 28, who spent five years in Afghanistan detonating over 300 bombs against coalition troops, was found with three knives hidden under his clothes when he was stopped by firearms officers on Parliament Street in April last year.Ali, who grew up in Edmonton in north London and trained as a gas engineer and plumber, had returned to the UK in November 2016. He came under MI5 surveillance a month later when the FBI linked his fingerprints to improvised explosive devices used in Afghanistan.Scotland Yard's head of counterterrorism, Dean Haydon, stated that "due process" led to the authorization to use evidence in the UK was only given a day after Ali planned the attack.An Old Bailey jury convicted him of preparing an act of terrorism in the UK and two counts of possessing an explosive substance with intent. The defendant will be sentenced on July 20, and faces a lifetime jail term.Brian Altman, QC, for the prosecution, told the Old Bailey: "If he hadn't been stopped, who knows how many more people would be lying dead or mortally wounded on the streets of Westminster."Ali said he had come back to Britain, where he first moved with his parents in 1992, to deliver a "message" to the "decision-makers" of the country, but told officers the knives were for self-defence. He admitted swearing allegiance to three successive heads of the Taliban and the leader of Al-Qaeda, Ayman al-Zawahiri.Ali was watched by intelligence officers as he carried out reconnaissance on March 18 last year. He was spotted on CCTV using the Stand Up To Racism March as a cover to get through to Downing Street and the Cenotaph.Just over a month later on April 27 his mother called the police to say she had seen knives in her son's bedroom and feared he would attack their family. On that same day he bought an 8.5in chef's knife and two 3.5in paring knives, before he travelled to Westminster.After deliberately disposing of his phone in the Thames, officers swooped in to arrest him.Altman told the jury that Ali planned a "deadly terror attack at the very heart of this country's democracy by killing a police officer, a member of the military or even a Parliamentarian".
UK citizen Khalid Ali is found guilty at the Old Bailey in London of plotting a terror attack after he was found with knives in the city, and of building and detonating bombs for the Taliban in Afghanistan. He was detained within metres of Parliament, and wished to murder MPs and police officers.