Three men have been found guilty in a UK court of conspiracy to murder over the 'liquid bomb' plot against transatlantic aircraft which sparked an extensive overhaul of airline security procedures.
A jury at Woolwich crown court in London decided that the three men - Abdullah Ahmed Ali, Assad Sarwar and Tanvir Hussain - had planned to destroy aircraft and kill passengers and crew, using improvised explosives in liquid form smuggled on board in drink containers.
They had been among eight individuals charged in August 2006 with conspiracy to murder, as part of a police and intelligence operation codenamed 'Overt'. Searches turned up items including large quantities of hydrogen peroxide - a component of certain explosives - plus electronic components and videotaped statements.
All three men had already been previously convicted on a charge of conspiracy to murder but it had not extended specifically to aircraft.
"If these terrorists had been successful, many people would have lost their lives," says Metropolitan Police counter terrorism command chief John McDowall.
"But their plans were thwarted by the police and security services before they could commit mass murder on an unimaginable scale."
All three men convicted today face long prison terms when sentenced on 14 September.
McDowall says the jury rejected the defence that the videotaped statements by two of the men were simply designed to intimidate the public and influence the Government, and instead interpreted the statements as "a precursor to their attempted martyrdom".
Surveillance efforts had concentrated on a location in northeast London which the police described as a "bomb factory".
In the wake of the plot - alleged to have been aimed at American Airlines, United Airlines and Air Canada flights from London Heathrow - airports introduced tight restrictions on cabin baggage and limited the carriage of liquids.
Source: Air Transport Intelligence news
