Three jailed for life in third trial over liquid bombs plot

Jul 12, 2010, 17:18 GMT

   London - Three British men were given life sentences Monday for being 'foot soldiers' in a larger plot to blow up a series of transatlantic planes with liquid bombs in 2006.

Woolwich Crown Court in London ruled that the men, who were cleared of plotting to bomb planes in two previous trials, were guilty of 'plotting to murder' by being prepared to blow themselves up.

'In this dreadful conspiracy, the intended role of the foot soldier was to blow himself up and to kill and maim an uncertain but potentially large number of men, women and children,' the presiding judge ruled.

Ibrahim Savant, 29, Arafat Khan, 29, and Waheed Zaman, 26, would have to serve a minimum of 20 years.

The men were cleared of plotting to bomb the planes in two previous trials. But the prosecution insisted that a third jury needed to decide whether or not they had been prepared to blow themselves up, even if they had not known what the ringleaders' plan was.

Prosecutors argued that 'martyrdom videos' recorded by the trio proved they were willing to sacrifice their lives, even though there was insufficient evidence to prove they had known what the target would be.

The airliner plot, uncovered by British police and intelligence in August, 2006, sparked a a fundamental shift in air travel security with the ban on carrying liquids on flights.