Four UK men jailed for discussing acts of terrorism

London: Four men were jailed in Britain on Thursday for discussing terrorist attacks, including plans to blow up an army reserve center using a bomb-laden toy car. Zahid Iqbal, Mohammed Sharfaraz Ahmed, Umar Arshad and Syed Farhan Hussain aged between 22 and 31 pleaded guilty in March to engaging in conduct in preparation for acts of terrorism between January 2011 and April 2012. [caption id=“attachment_710038” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  An undated handout photo issued by London’s Metropolitan Police shows Zahid Iqbal, Mohammed Sharfaraz Ahmed and bottom row left to right Umar Arshad and Syed Farhan Hussain. AP[/caption] Prosecutors said the Britons downloaded files containing instructions for an attack, bought survival equipment and collected money for terrorist purposes. They also admitted “facilitating, planning and encouraging” overseas travel for terrorist purposes. The men were recorded discussing sending a remote-controlled toy car carrying a homemade bomb under the gates of an army reservist center and speaking of using instructions in an al Qaeda manual to make an improvised explosive device. The four were arrested a year ago in the town of Luton, north of London, after an operation by police and the MI5 intelligence service. They were sentenced today at London’s Woolwich Crown Court. Iqbal and Ahmed were jailed for 16 years and 3 months, while Arshad received a sentence of six years and nine months. Hussain was jailed for five years and three months. Associated Press