A Glasgow Airport bomber has admitted the attack was “not justifiable”.
Bilal Abdullah – the Iraqi-born doctor turned terrorist – has expressed regret for the first time over his attempt to bring mass murder to Scotland and, the day before, the streets of London.
Abdullah, now 34, is serving a life sentence for his part in the failed suicide bombing on June 30, 2007.
He spoke about the attack to Moazamm Begg, the British man who was imprisoned in Guantanamo Bay for three years on suspicion of being a member of Al Qaeda.
Begg, who was released without charge, met Abdullah in jail, where he is serving a 32-year sentence.
In an interview in the New Statesman magazine, Begg revealed the airport bomber “would be the first person to say” that the attack was “not justifiable”.
The admission is understood to be the first comment Abdullah has made on the horror incident since being sentenced in 2008.
Begg described Abdullah as “unbelievably warm, kind, gentle, loving, unextreme to the maximum”.
He added: “Because he is an Iraqi and he did it at the height of the Iraq war, it is understandable, isn’t it?”
Asked if it WAS justifiable, Begg responded: “No, it is not justifiable and he’s the first person to say it.”
Abdullah, who worked as a locum doctor at the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Paisley, was born in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire.
His family moved to Iraq when he was three.
He returned to England in his 20s to complete his medical training but went back to Iraq in 2006 and witnessed carnage in his family’s homeland.
Fellow terrorist Kafeel Ahmed drove a Jeep laden with explosives into the doors of Glasgow Airport.
The intention was that it would explode inside the departure hall and that the bombers, on the run from the failed attempt to bomb a nightclub in London, would be martyred.
But the attack failed when the vehicle simply caught fire.
Ahmed died from severe burns a month later.
Five members of the public were hurt. The incident made baggage handler John Smeaton and others who tackled the bombers national heroes.
Judge Mr Justice Mackay presided over the nine-week trial at London’s Woolwich Crown Court.
He described Abdullah as “religious extremist and a bigot” and sentenced him to a minimum of 32 years in jail.
He will be at least 61 before he is freed.
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