Three found guilty of suicide bomb plot

Three British Muslims face life behind bars after being found guilty of plotting to kill hundreds of civilians in suicide bomb attacks - bringing to an end a marathon series of prosecutions relating to the liquid bomb plot of 2006.

Ibrahim Savant, Waheed Zaman (above left) and Arafat Khan (right) were convicted of conspiracy to murder by a jury at Woolwich Crown Court. It was the third time the men had faced trial on terrorism charges and their convictions bring to an end a four-year police operation and a series of court cases that began in 2008.

The men were recruited in 2006 by Abdulla Ahmed Ali, the ringleader of the liquid bomb plot, who planned to bring down seven transatlantic passenger planes using explosives smuggled on board in drinks bottles.

He had selected flights to San Francisco, Toronto, Montreal, Washington, New York and Chicago which departed within two and a half hours of each other. Once on board the planes a team of suicide bombers would have assembled and detonated the devices in mid-air. Had it been successful the attacks would have caused as much carnage as the 9/11 attacks.

British police smashed the terror ring before they could execute their plan and the discovery of the plot led to strict new security measures at airports around the world.

The court cases against the alleged plotters began in April 2008 and, despite hung juries, acquittals and more than one retrial, a total of 12 people have now been convicted. Ringleader Ali was sentenced last September to a minimum of 40 years in jail.

Savant, Khan and Zaman had been cleared at an earlier trial of charges directly relating to the plan to blow up aeroplanes, but the jury could not reach a verdict on the conspiracy to murder charges. A retrial was called and now the three have been found guilty.

The prosecution argued that "martyrdom videos" recorded by the trio proved they were prepared to sacrifice their lives, although when they were arrested there was not enough evidence to show that they knew that the actual targets would be.

The CPS said that the three men were "actively working alongside other men on a plot to cause death and injury on a massive scale".

The statement continued: "They were cleared in the previous trial of being aware of the ultimate targets of the plot, but we say that they were committed to the principle and practice of violent jihad to the point of targeting innocent people in an attempt to further their cause.

"The charges against these men were so serious that, following two previous trials where juries could not reach verdicts, the Director of Public Prosecutions decided that the evidence must be properly tested before a jury for a third time.

"The verdicts demonstrate that the Crown Prosecution Service was right to pursue a third trial." ·