ReutersA man has been charged with terrorism offenses following allegations he took the Manchester synagogue attacker to inspect a UK defense facility.
Mohammad Asim Bashir, 31, who lives in Cheetham Hill, north Manchester, has been charged with one count of preparation for acts of terrorism and three counts of disseminating terrorist publications.
Jihad Al-Shamie was shot dead by police in his attack on the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation synagogue in Manchester on Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar.
Bashir, who Greater Manchester Police said was a British Pakistani, was known to the Al-Shamie attacker but was not directly involved in the October 2 attack.
Bashir is alleged to have taken Al-Shamie to an unnamed defense facility on August 14 to carry out hostile reconnaissance.
He will also be prosecuted for allegedly sharing material online with the intent to encourage acts of terrorism.
Frank Ferguson, for the Crown Prosecution Service, said there was sufficient evidence to charge Bashir with one offense of preparing terrorist acts and three offenses of sharing terrorist publications with Al-Shamie and others with the intention of encouraging acts of terrorism.
FacebookDeputy Chief Constable Rob Potts, operational lead for North West counter-terrorism policing, said the charges were not directly linked to the synagogue attack “but are the result of investigations by our investigation team”.
Bashir is scheduled to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Friday.
