In his own chilling words, would-be terror mastermind Walid Saadaoui boasted of his twisted desire to massacre British Jews, saying he wanted to ‘run rivers of their impure blood’ – with any murdered Christians ‘a bonus’.
The Tunisian-born former hotel entertainer, who was allowed to live in this country after marrying a British holidaymaker, said a knife would not be enough to satisfy his lust for what he saw as ‘revenge’ for Israel‘s military operations in Gaza.
Telling a fellow extremist known as Farouk that ‘only the automatic gun’ would be capable of inflicting the slaughter he was planning, Saadaoui said: ‘I want to kill as many as possible.
‘I have an overwhelming urge. I feel sometimes I will go out and kill them with stones, then I say to myself it will be a waste.’
Thankfully, the plot – which he hatched with fellow migrant and Islamic State supporter Amar Hussein, who claimed to be a former Iraqi soldier – had been infiltrated by police.
Farouk – who Saadaoui believed was sourcing a stash of firearms and over 900 rounds of ammunition – was in reality an undercover operative.
In May last year, Saadaoui drove to the car park of a Lancashire spa hotel for the prearranged handover of the weapons.
Days earlier he and Hussein had scouted out potential targets in North Manchester’s Jewish community, Britain’s largest outside London – including nurseries, schools, restaurants, coffee shops and synagogues.
Seconds later armed officers who had been lying in wait pounced, arresting Saadaoui before he could get his hands on the haul, all of which had been safely deactivated.
Plotters Walid Saadaoui, 38, left, and Amar Hussein planned to slaughter British Jews in a twisted revenge for Israel’s military response to the October 7 attacks
Surveillance image showing Amar Hussein and Bilel Saadaoui walking together in Dover, Kent
His messages, voicenotes and secretly recorded calls would create a damning dossier of evidence again the plotters, who are facing life sentences after being found guilty of preparing a terror attack on Tuesday.
In a message to ‘Farouk’ as he sought to obtain a deadly arsenal, Saadaoui wrote: ‘I can use a knife on [the] operation but this will not be enough to take revenge; only the automatic gun.
‘I want to kill as many as possible.
‘I have an overwhelming urge. I feel sometimes I will go out and kill them with stones, then I say to myself it will be a waste.’
In a voice note on Christmas Day 2023 he said: ‘These matters of running someone over with a car or using a knife is ineffective, what is needed is an automatic gun.
‘We want to do the same as what [Paris attack mastermind Abdelhamid] Abaaoud done, god willing. We must run rivers of their impure blood.’
Later he told Farouk: ‘Here in Manchester, we have the biggest Jewish community.
‘God willing we will degrade and humiliate them (in the worst way possible), and hit them where it hurts.’
Hussein (left) and Saadaoui (right) are seen in Dover at an unknown date. The pair travelled to Dover, Kent, in March 2024 to conduct hostile reconnaissance, their trial heard
A selfie video taken by Amar Hussein during a trip to Dover in Kent
Walid Saadaoui is pictured in Dover on May 8 – the same day he was arrested
Footage issued by police showing the arrest of Walid Saadaoui
In a subsequent bugged conversation he told ‘Farouk’: ‘The Muslims all over the world, if every brother implements on the Jewish people, honestly they wouldn’t do what they do in Gaza now.’
Then after he and Hussein carried out ‘hostile reconnaissance’ for targets in North Manchester, Saadaoui said: ‘We start with the Jews and if there any Christians caught in the act, that is a bonus but we start with the Jews.
‘We open fire on them, young, old, women, elderly, the whole lot, killing them all.’
Later he told ‘Farouk’: ‘My wish is martyrdom in the cause of Allah, the best thing I like is martyrdom in the cause of Allah. We pledge allegiance to death.’
On the date that he went to collect weapons which he intended to use in a gun attack, his brother Bilel messaged him: ‘May Allah Safeguard you.
‘If you see of them something that displease/disturb you or almost expose you, then dispense or return. This is better for you.’
Bilel Saadaoui denied knowledge of the plot but was found guilty of failing to disclose information about his brother’s plans.
The planned massacre – which police say could have been Britain’s ‘worst ever’ terrorist atrocity had it not been foiled – was a chilling echo of the Bondi Beach attack in which 15 innocent people were killed.
Jewish community leaders said it was another stark reminder of the lethal consequences of rising anti-Israeli rhetoric.
Bilel Saadaoui and his stepson holding swords. Saadaoui’s brother Bilel was found guilty of failing to disclose information about the plan
A police officer standing guard outside Walid Saadaoui’s house near Wigan after the raids in May 2024
A photo issued by Greater Manchester Police of weapons seized during the arrest of Saadaoui
A BB gun seized from the property of Saadaoui after his arrest
Binoculars seized from the home of Saadaoui after he was arrested by police
Now 38, Saadaoui ‘hero-worshipped’ Abdelhamid Abaaoud, mastermind of the Paris attacks.
His brother Bilel is understood to have gone to school with Seifeddine Rezgui, who gunned down 30 British tourists on a beach in Sousse in 2015.
Walid Saadaoui moved to Clacton-on-Sea, Essex on a spousal visa in 2012 after marrying a British holidaymaker called Jane.
After working at a holiday park, in 2018 the couple bought the Albatross Restaurant in Great Yarmouth for £25,000.
But they later split, selling their house for £169,000 – later using his share to fund his terror plot.
After moving to Wigan and marrying a second British woman, Saadaoui became obsessed with replicating the 2015 atrocity in which 130 people were killed.
He began plotting with Hussein, who claimed to be a former Iraqi soldier and came to Britain in 2007, setting up an electrical appliance business in Bolton.
After working briefly at a discount store, Saadaoui gave up work and claimed Universal Credit.
He came under suspicion in the wake of the Hamas attacks of October 7, 2023 due to his hate-filled social media posts.
Footage of weapons sent by undercover operative ‘Farouk’ to Walid Saadaoui
Saadaoui aimed to smuggle four AK-47 assault rifles, two handguns and 900 rounds of ammunition into the UK in what police chiefs said could have been Britain’s deadliest terrorist incident
A knife found in the car belonging to Hussein following his arrest
More weapons seized by police during the arrest of Saadaoui
Cash seized from the home of Saadaoui after he was arrested by police
Having accepted a friend request from ‘Farouk’, Saadaoui said he wanted to ‘kill as many as possible’.
Told that contacts in Morocco could supply Kalashnikov assault rifles, Saadaoui demanded 1,200 rounds and four automatic weapons, saying one firearm was ‘not enough for us’.
He used one of his Facebook accounts to join a Jewish community page in order to stalk his targets online and work out when they might be holding gatherings.
He also began to ‘get his affairs in order’ ahead of possible ‘martyrdom’ as the plot developed, police said – making a will, and paying for his wife to have driving lessons.
Meanwhile he withdrew £90,000 from the sale of his business and property, keeping cash in safes, and attended an air rifle range.
In March last year Saadaoui and Hussein drove to Dover to look at the ‘security set-up’, posing as tourists.
The following day Farouk joined the plotters for ‘hostile reconnaissance around North Manchester’ – Saadaoui told him the area was ‘full of Jews’.
Searches after their arrest uncovered two safes at Saadaoui’s home, one containing £15,000 cash and a copy of his will.
A second, concreted into the ground, contained £77,000 cash.
Saadaoui’s younger brother, Bilel, 35, who was granted bail, was found guilty of failing to disclose information about the plan
Bilel Saadaoui was arrested by armed cops while he was working out at a gym
Counter terrorism officers, armed with pistols and wearing bandanas to cover their faces detained Bilel Saadaoui, handcuffing him and walking him out of the gym
Bodyworn camera footage issued by police showing the arrest of Bilel Saadaoui
Walid Saadaoui’s will uncovered by police searches, written as he made preparations for his anticipated ‘martyrdom’
During his trial, Saadaoui claimed a senior ISIS operative ‘took advantage’ of his kindness and forced him to plan the attack.
Hussein denied involvement in the plot but refused to turn up for his two-month trial, telling police: ‘Your Government, your Prime Minister has sent weapons to kill our children in Israel.
‘Terrorism is our religion. Koran say terrorism is normal.
‘We are proud, we say terrorism is proud.’
Walid Saadaoui and Hussein were convicted of preparing acts of terrorism between December 2023 and May 2024.
Saadaoui’s brother Bilel, 35, was found guilty of failing to disclose information about acts of terrorism.
All three will be sentenced in February.
Following the verdicts, Greater Manchester Chief Constable Sir Stephen Watson condemned the ‘extraordinarily dangerous terrorists’ and their ‘vicious anti-Semitism’.
‘A terrorist attack upon our Jewish friends and neighbours is an attack upon us all, and is an affront to every decent person in our country,’ he added.
Community Security Trust chief executive Mark Gardner warned that since the October 7 attacks, sections of society had ‘turned against Jews’.
Comparing violent Islamic extremists to the Nazis, he said ‘they don’t stop to ask these Jews what their opinion is of Israel… they want to kill Jews, end of story’.
The Campaign Against Antisemitism said the plot was ‘a reminder that what happened on Bondi Breach could just as easily have happened here in Britain’.
