ByMICHAEL STARR
Updated:

A man who had been arrested in relation to the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation synagogue attack was charged with providing terrorist literature to the attacker and preparation of terrorism not linked to the Yom Kippur incident, the Greater Manchester Police said.

Cheetham Hill resident Mohammad Asim Bashir provided attacker Jihad al-Shamie and others with terrorist publications, according to the Crown Prosecution Service.

CPS Special Crime and Counter Terrorism Division Chief Crown Prosecutor Frank Ferguson said in a statement that Bashir was charged “with one offense of preparation of terrorist acts and three offenses of sharing terrorist publications with Shamie and others with the intent to encourage acts of terrorism.”

Suspect arrested at Manchester Airport

The 31-year-old British Pakistani had been arrested last Thursday at Manchester Airport after arriving on an inbound flight, on suspicion of commission, preparation, and instigation of the October 2 synagogue attack that killed two congregants and wounded three. 

He was released without charges directly related to the Yom Kippur terrorist attack, but was charged with tangential crimes.

Protesters wave flags and hold placards during a demonstration organized by the Campaign Against Antisemitism outside Downing Street in London last month, to mark one week since the attack on a synagogue in Manchester.
Protesters wave flags and hold placards during a demonstration organized by the Campaign Against Antisemitism outside Downing Street in London last month, to mark one week since the attack on a synagogue in Manchester. (credit: Chris J Ratcliffe/AFP via Getty Images)

“These charges aren’t directly linked to the terrorist attack which took place at the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue but have come as a result of inquiries conducted by our investigation team,” Counter Terrorism Policing North West Assistant Chief Constable Rob Potts said.

Bashir was the seventh suspect arrested in connection with the car ramming and stabbing attack.

Another man was arrested at the airport on October 9 for failing to disclose information that could have stopped a terrorist attack. The 30-year-old man was released on bail with conditions and remains on bail.

The Prestwich man had been previously arrested on October 2, alongside a 61-year-old woman and a 32-year-old man. A 46-year-old woman, an 18-year-old woman, and a 43-year-old man were arrested in Farnworth, but the latter two were released on October 4.

Shamie, who had been wearing a fake suicide bomb vest, was shot to death by responding officers. Mid-attack, he had called law enforcement to pledge fealty to ISIS.

The terrorist was not previously known to counterterrorism police, but was on bail for alleged rape.