Airport bomb plot: three guilty

[bijou]

Three British Muslims were found guilty today of an al Qaeda plot to explode liquid bombs at Heathrow airport.

But they were cleared of trying to blow up seven transatlantic airliners carrying at least 2,000 people in an attack that would have eclipsed 9/11.

They planned to smuggle explosives disguised as fizzy drinks such as Oasis and Lucozade into Terminal Three. Police believe the scheme was just days or weeks away from being put into action.

The three men had admitted planning to bomb Terminal Three as part of a terrorist publicity stunt. The prosecution claimed during the four-month trial that the plotters had also targeted Canary Wharf, gas terminals, various airports and the electricity grid.

But after 50 hours of deliberation the jury cleared them of plotting to blow up jets.

The three men - ringleader and Islamic extremist Abdulla Ahmed Ali, 27, Assad Sarwar, 28, and Tanvir Hussain, 27 - were found guilty of conspiring to murder hundreds.

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http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23552431-details/Airport+bomb+plot%3A+three+guilty/article.do

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