Briton indicted as accomplice to shoe bomber

A Briton has been indicted by a federal grand jury in Boston on charges that he was an accomplice of would-be shoe bomber Richard C. Reid, an admitted Al Qaeda operative who is serving life in prison for trying to blow up an American Airlines flight in 2001.

The seven-count indictment, which was secretly handed down Sept. 1 and unsealed yesterday, alleges that Saajid Mohammed Badat, 25, of Gloucester, England, obtained custom-made shoe bombs in Afghanistan and tried to coordinate with Reid to launch separate attacks on US aircraft.

Badat was arrested in England on Nov. 27, 2003, after authorities seized shoe bomb components at his apartment, and is scheduled to stand trial there in February on charges that he conspired to destroy a plane with explosives. He pleaded not guilty to those charges on Sept. 24.

US Attorney General John Ashcroft, who announced the indictment during a news conference in Washington yesterday, said federal authorities decided to pursue charges against Badat, even though he already faces similar charges in England, because, "We believe that it is appropriate that he face justice in the United States of America, and we will seek his extradition."

If convicted on all charges, Badat would face life in prison.

When asked why the indictment, which had been returned in July and then superseded in September, was being unsealed now, Ashcroft said, "Our cooperation with foreign governments has resulted in the indictment being unsealed at this time rather than being made available immediately."

He also denied any political aspect to the announcement's timing, saying "the safety and security of the American people" is "the sole consideration of the Justice Department."

After Badat's arrest in England last November, he "admitted that he was asked to conduct a shoe bombing like Reid," according to the indictment in US District Court in Boston.

Reid's efforts to ignite explosives in his shoes on Dec. 22, 2001, during American Airlines Flight 63 from Paris to Miami were thwarted by flight attendants and passengers who tackled and subdued him. The flight, carrying 197 people, was diverted to Boston, and Reid later pleaded guilty to trying to blow up the plane and professed his loyalty to Osama bin Laden.

The new indictment charges Badat with plotting with Reid and other unidentified people to use a weapon of mass destruction to blow up American Airlines Flight 63 and other US aircraft.

Between September and December of 2001, Badat and Reid traveled between Pakistan and Europe, and both were granted new passports at the British Embassy in Brussels after falsely claiming during separate visits that they had lost them, according to the indictment. Badat applied for his passport, which did not show his recent trips to Pakistan, on Sept. 11, 2001.

Badat and Reid contacted each other through numerous e-mail accounts to coordinate their efforts to use shoe bombs to "attack American interests, including but not limited to bombing American aircraft in flight," the indictment says. It also describes the shoe bomb components seized from Badat's home last year as "substantially similar" to those of Reid's.

A Muslim who was born in England, Badat spent five years in Pakistan studying to become a cleric, the Manchester Guardian reported last year.

The newspaper also reported that Badat worshiped at two London mosques frequented by Reid.

Badat studied at the College of Islamic Knowledge and Guidance in Blackburn, in northern England.

Murphy reported from Boston, Bender from Washington. Globe correspondent Sarah Liebowitz contributed from London.