A British businessman accused of offering to smuggle 200 shoulder-launched missiles to terrorists in America told an undercover FBI agent that Osama bin Laden had "done a very good thing", a court heard yesterday. Hemant Lakhani shrank into his chair as the court in Newark, New Jersey, heard a tape recording of a conversation he had with a man he allegedly thought represented Muslim terrorists from Somalia. Lakhani, 69, met the man, a Pakistani FBI informant named Muhammad Rehman, at a hotel in Newark only four months after the September 11 terrorist attacks, the court heard. According to the taped conversation, Lakhani, from Hendon, north London, told Mr Rehman that the "white people" had "improved a little", adding: "Bin Laden has straightened them. Now they are scared. Well, we will do something now." He continued: "Our culture is different, our values are different, we can never be partners with them. We people cannot work with the white people." When Mr Rehman agreed with him, Lakhani went on: "He [bin Laden] did a very good thing. He did it a bit violent and a bit too soon, but he did a very good thing."Lakhani, who earlier rose defiantly from his chair when Mr Rehman was asked to identify him in court, faces various terrorism-related charges including one of attempting to provide material support to terrorists. He is alleged to have told the undercover agent that the Ukrainian-made missiles he could supply should be used to shoot down 10 to 15 passenger planes simultaneously on the second anniversary of the September 11 attacks. He was arrested in August 2003 after an elaborate sting operation involving Russian and British intelligence. Lakhani, a Hindu, claims that he was the victim of entrapment.
The jury was also shown a videotape in which Lakhani could be seen producing brochures from a Ukrainian weapons manufacturer. He told the informant the company could supply anti-aircraft guns and even a submarine. Rehman then asked him if he could get "something sinister, like a Stinger missile, with a range of 15,000 feet?'' Lakhani replied: "Yes, yes, yes. Anything you need, I can get."