Three found guilty over "liquid bomb" plot at London trial (Roundup)

Sep 7, 2009, 16:26 GMT

 London - Three British Muslim extremists were Monday found guilty of plotting to blow up transatlantic passenger aircraft with home-made liquid bombs in a thwarted suicide attack in the summer of 2006, a court in London ruled.

   The plot, intercepted by the intelligence services, would have been the 'worst atrocity since 9/11 and inflicted heavy casualties in the name of Islam,' the court in London heard.

   The plan to blow up seven airliners crossing the Atlantic to Canada and the US was uncovered in August 2006, and led to a worldwide ban on carrying liquids in hand luggage.

   At a retrial, a jury at Woolwich Crown Court in London convicted ringleader Abdulla Ahmed Ali, 28, of conspiring to activate bombs disguised as drinks.

   Tanvir Hussain, 28, and Assad Sarwar, 29, were also found guilty of the same charge. All men, though born in Britain, had close links with Pakistan. They will be sentenced next week. Four other men were found not guilty of the airliner plot.

   At a trial a year ago, Ali, Hussain and Sarwar were found guilty of conspiracy to murder involving liquid bombs - but that jury could not decide whether their plans extended to detonating the devices on planes.

   An appeal by Britain's Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) led to a retrial, with the jury concluding that such a terror plot did exist.

   The prosecution alleged that the attack would have caused 'mass murder on an unimaginable scale' and would have 'exceeded the carnage' of the September 11 attacks in the US in 2001.

   Commentators said the ruling would have come as a 'relief' for the government in Britain, which has come under attack for introducing the draconian travel restrictions.

   Reports said the security services, courts and police had spent a total of 35 million pounds (57 million dollars) on foiling the plot and bringing the men to justice.

   The verdict was important to maintain the 'credibility of the authorities' in their efforts to disrupt dangerous terror plots, said Alex Carlile, the government's reviewer of terrorism legislation.

   The court heard that Ali, from London, singled out seven flights to San Francisco, Toronto, Montreal, Washington, New York and Chicago that departed from London's Heathrow airport within a two-and-a-half hour period.

The jets were operated by United Airlines, American Airlines and Air Canada.

Hollowed-out fruit drink bottles filled with hydrogen-peroxide would have been detonated in mid-air, leaving the authorities on both sides of the Atlantic powerless to stop the destruction, the court heard.

   The prosecution alleged that the plot was drawn up in Pakistan with detailed instructions passed to Ali during frequent trips to its border region with Afghanistan.

Undercover surveillance officers had watched Ali converting a flat in east London into a bomb factory, which was also used to record suicide videos in which the British public was warned to expect 'floods of martyr operations.'