Muslim mother who hid terrorist manual in burka 'was willing to blow up herself and her children'

A mother-of-six who today admitted hiding an explosives manual in her burka wrote a note suggesting she was willing to blow up herself and her children, a police source said.

Houria Chahed Chentouf, 41, from Manchester, was sentenced to two years in prison for the terror-related offence but walked free from court after serving her time on remand.

Officers found the chilling note written by Moroccan-born Chentouf at her home in Holland.

It indicated she was prepared to sacrifice her life and that of her children for the sake of her religion.

She wrote: 'Myself and my children would seek revenge, we would be bombs for the sake of this religion, may Allah forgive you.'

The court heard Chentouf suffers from a mental illness, triggered by the death of a family member and has previously self-harmed.

Her extremist views were discovered when she accidentally dropped a pen drive computer storage device containing terror-related documents while she was being questioned at Liverpool's John Lennon Airport.

On October 16 last year she was randomly stopped and searched by officers after she landed on an easyJet flight from Amsterdam, Manchester Crown Court heard.

Police said Chentouf had become agitated as soon as she was stopped at the airport.

The memory stick had been tied to the inner sleeve of her burka but fell out as she reached down to scratch her leg.

Liverpool John Lennon Airport: Where the memory stick was found (file image)
Chentouf was released but arrested the following day at her rented home in Reynell Road, Longsight, Manchester.

More than 7,000 files were found on the pen drive, including an explosives manual for the 'Brothers of the Mujahadeen,' the court heard.

It was described by police as 'a mini encyclopaedia of weapons making' and amounted to a step-by-step guide on how to create a bomb.

She had identified suitable targets as sports grounds, cinemas, colleges and bus stations, the court heard.

Another document contained information about the military use of electronics, the court heard, while searches of computers and laptops at the home found clear evidence she had had chat room conversations with militants about the roles of women and martyrdom.

She had been radicalised through the Internet, investigators said - the process beginning about two years ago.

Chentouf pleaded guilty to two offences of possessing documents likely to be useful for a terrorist.

A guide on establishing a terror cell, a manual setting out the principles of Jihad and a document about creating a training camp were also found on the 4GB pen drive, but these counts were allowed to remain on file.

Detectives also discovered she had written to convicted terrorist Mohammed Chentouf - no relation - who is serving a prison sentence in Holland for his part in a terror plot targeting Dutch politicians.

She had telephone numbers for the exiled Muslim cleric Omar Bakri Mohammed, who is banned from Britain, and Islamic convert Abu Izzadeen, also known as Trevor Brooks, who famously heckled the former Home Secretary John Reid and was jailed for raising money for terrorists and inciting terrorism overseas.

Chentouf, wearing a full burka, did not react to the sentencing as Judge Michael Henshell told her she had 'developed an obsessive interest in Jihad and the more extreme forms of Islam'.
But he said there was 'no evidence' to suggest she intended to pass the material on and 'no intention of putting it into practical use'.

Chentouf was born in Tangier but moved to Holland when she was 19, where possessing an article for terrorist purposes is not illegal.

She lived in The Hague with her now ex-husband and their six children, who are aged between four and 16.

Six computers were later recovered in the UK and a further four were recovered in The Netherlands.

An external hard drive, other electronic media and a number of other documents were recovered from both addresses.

About 90% of the material recovered was in Arabic or Dutch and each one had to be translated, which took more than 12,000 man hours.

She wanted to move permanently to the UK because she was discriminated against in Holland, the court heard.

Police say she worked for the tax office in Holland but was on benefits at the time of her arrest for her mental health problems.

Detective Chief Superintendent Tony Porter, of the North West Counter Terrorism Unit, said they might never know Chentouf's intentions.

'This woman elected not to give us the reason why she had the material but possessing it constitutes a serious offence,' he said.

'It was the huge quantity which lead us to believe that this was not by sheer chance.
'We do know she has got known and established links to extremists abroad and that puts us on notice to be concerned.

'She is on our radar and she will know she is on our radar so I think we are in a better position than we were a year ago.'

Under the terms of her sentencing, Chentouf must notify police if she wishes to travel abroad in the next five years.

"It had been tied to the inner sleeve of her burka, but fell out as she reached down to scratch her leg ... It was described by police as "a mini encyclopaedia of weapons-making."
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