Terror trio including man who plotted to kidnap and behead soldier could be free within weeks

THREE more dangerous Islamist terrorists — including one who planned to kidnap and behead a soldier — could be free within weeks after being granted parole hearings. Parviz Khan, who got life with a minimum 14 years in 2008 for the plot, has won a hearing on September 29, which could see him released. Parviz Khan, who got life with a minimum 14 years in 2008 for the plot to behead a British soldier Credit: Handout Omar Khyam, of Crawley, West Sussex, was part of an al-Qaeda cell that was jailed for plotting a series of attacks with fertiliser-based bombs Credit: PA:Press Association His trial heard he was claiming £20,000 in benefits a year while planning to seize a British Muslim serviceman and decapitate him “like a pig”. He was jailed alongside four others, but the Leicester crown court trial heard that he was the ringleader of the Birmingham-based cell. Sign up for The Sun newsletter Thank you! Khan, 55, was denied parole in 2022 after a board said he was “not suitable” for release. Rangzieb Ahmed, an al-Qaeda operative once dubbed Osama bin Laden’s right-hand man in Europe, has been granted a parole hearing on August 20. Rangzieb Ahmed, an al-Qaeda operative, was once dubbed Osama bin Laden’s right-hand man in Europe Credit: AFP The new revelation comes days after reports that three al-Qaeda terrorists, above, jailed over a plot to blow up transatlantic planes could also be freed Credit: AP:Associated Press He was jailed in 2008 for setting up a terrorist cell in Manchester and was the first person to be charged with directing terrorism in the UK. His Manchester crown court trial heard he plotted mass murder, but he got a minimum term of just ten years. Ahmed, 50, of Rochdale, was also denied parole in 2022, but has a new shot at freedom. The third is Omar Khyam, of Crawley, West Sussex. He was part of an al-Qaeda cell that was jailed for plotting a series of attacks with fertiliser-based bombs. Potential targets for “mass casualty” attacks included Bluewater shopping centre in Kent and London’s Ministry of Sound nightclub. Most read in The Sun Khyam — linked to the July 7 London bombers — was jailed for conspiring to cause explosions, possessing 600kg of ammonium nitrate fertiliser for terrorism, and possession of aluminium powder. Cell ringleader Khyam was told he must serve at least 20 years at the Old Bailey in 2007. A year later he was handed another four-year term for throwing boiling oil over another inmate at Frankland Prison, Co Durham. Khyam, 45, is due before a panel for a hearing on December 2. It comes after we told on Monday how an al-Qaeda trio who planned to blow up transatlantic planes could be freed. Terrorists Waheed Zaman, Arafat Waheed Khan and Ibrahim Savant, all of London, were jailed in 2010. Ghaffar Hussain, an expert on radicalisation and former counter-terror officer on the Government’s Prevent programme, said: “These people all present massive risks and this is extremely worrying.” The Parole Board said: “Decisions are solely focused on what risk a prisoner could represent to the public if released and whether that risk is manageable.”