Two Men Convicted of IS-Inspired Plot on Manchester Jews

Two men inspired by the Islamic State militant group were convicted Tuesday of plotting a mass shooting targeting the Jewish community in Greater Manchester, England, in what authorities described as a scheme that could have become the deadliest terrorist attack in British history if carried out.

Walid Saadaoui, 38, originally from Tunisia and living in Abram, Wigan, and Amar Hussein, 52, a Kuwaiti national with no fixed address, were found guilty at Preston Crown Court of preparing acts of terrorism between December 2023 and May 2024. A third defendant, Saadaoui's brother Bilel Saadaoui, 36, from Hindley, Wigan, was convicted of failing to disclose information about the plot during the same period. The three men denied the charges during a nearly three-month trial.

Prosecutors said the defendants, who had sworn allegiance to Islamic State, planned a marauding gun assault using automatic weapons to kill as many Jewish people as possible. Saadaoui, the main instigator and a former holiday camp entertainer turned restaurateur, sought to smuggle four AK-47 assault rifles, two handguns and around 900 rounds of ammunition into the country. He paid a deposit for the weapons months...