IT admin from BA convicted on terrorism charges

An IT administrator at British Airways has been found guilty on four counts of terrorism after an online investigation.

Rajib Karim, 31, joined BA in 2007 as a post-graduate trainee after getting a degree in electronics at Manchester University.

He used his position to collect and distribute terrorist materials, and conducted online conversations with radical cleric Anwar al-Awlaki.

"Karim found a position as a software engineer, which the prosecution said he considered the perfect job, giving an opportunity sooner or later to fulfil his deadly objective," said Colin Gibbs, counter terrorism lawyer for the Crown Prosecution Service.

Karim used the BA networks in London and Newcastle to disseminate confidential information to members of the Jammat-ul Mujahideen Bangladesh terrorist group.

He is also said to have discussed shutting down BA's critical computer systems as part of an attack.

"Although Karim went to great lengths to disguise his activities, experts from the Metropolitan Police Service Counter Terrorism Command spent nine months decrypting 300 coded messages found on his computer hard drive," Stuart Osborne, deputy assistant commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, told the BBC.

"It was the most sophisticated decryption task of its kind ever undertaken by the Met's Counter Terrorism Command. This painstaking work gave detectives access to a body of material which exposed Karim's terrorist activities and led to today's conviction."

Karim was found guilty on four counts of engaging in conduct in preparation of acts of terrorism, and pleaded guilty to a further three counts of engaging in conduct in preparation of acts of terrorism, terrorist fundraising and possessing a document likely to be of use to a terrorist.