Scottish Student Found Guilty in Terrorism Trial

A Scottish student was found guilty on Monday of possessing terrorism-related materials.

A Scottish student was found guilty on Monday of possessing terrorism-related materials including bomb-making instructions, despite arguing he was only conducting research.

Mohammed Atif Siddique, 21, described by the prosecution as a "wannabe suicide bomber", was found guilty of possessing and distributing terrorist material via Web sites. He will be sentenced next month.

The defence had said he was merely researching Islamist terrorism to find out "why young Muslim men like him act the way they do".

Siddique's lawyer, Aamer Anwar, told reporters his client had been "found guilty of doing what millions of young people do every day -- looking for answers on the Internet". He said Siddique might appeal.

Siddique, born in Scotland to Pakistani immigrants, was detained and questioned by police at Glasgow airport in April last year when about to fly to Pakistan with his uncle. His passport, tickets and laptop were confiscated. Eight days later, he was arrested in a dawn raid at his home.

Evidence found in his possession and produced at his four-week trial included footage of Osama bin Laden urging holy war against the West, a video for recruiting suicide bombers, and computer materials on using weapons and explosives.

Computer evidence has played a key part in recent British terrorism trials. In July, a British man was convicted of possessing terrorism-related documents in a case based partly on missile-building instructions found on his computer hard drive.

In the same month, three other men were jailed after pleading guilty to inciting terrorism via Web sites which advocated killing non-Muslims.