Three men have been found guilty of plotting to kill thousands of people by blowing up planes flying from London to America with home-made liquid bombs.
Three men have been found guilty of plotting to kill thousands of people by blowing up planes flying from London to America with home-made liquid bombs.
A Woolwich Crown Court jury convicted Abdulla Ahmed Ali, 28, Tanvir Hussain, 28, and Assad Sarwar, 29, of conspiring to activate bombs disguised as drinks.
A Woolwich Crown Court jury convicted Abdulla Ahmed Ali, 28, Tanvir Hussain, 28, and Assad Sarwar, 29, of conspiring to activate bombs disguised as drinks.
Four other men were found not guilty of involvement in the suicide bomb plot.
Four other men were found not guilty of involvement in the suicide bomb plot.
The men's arrests in August 2006 led to new airport restrictions on liquids and brought chaos to travellers.
The arrests in August 2006 caused chaos to international aviation and prompted the current restrictions on liquids.
The jury heard that at the time of his arrest, plot ringleader Ahmed Ali had identified seven US and Canada-bound flights to blow up over the Atlantic within a two-and-a-half-hour period.
The jury heard that at the time of his arrest, plot ringleader Ahmed Ali had identified seven US and Canada-bound flights to blow up over the Atlantic within a two-and-a-half-hour period.
They were flights from London's Heathrow airport to San Francisco, Washington, New York, Chicago, Toronto and Montreal.
They were flights from London's Heathrow airport to San Francisco, Washington, New York, Chicago, Toronto and Montreal. Had the planes taken to the air with bombers on board, there would have been little chance of saving them.
His so-called "quartermaster", Sarwar, had secured bomb ingredients at his home in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, and a flat in the Walthamstow area of east London had become the bomb factory.
There the men put together a special mixture of chemicals that they planned to take onto planes in ordinary sports drinks bottles stored within hand luggage.
Ahmed Ali, of Walthamstow, Hussain, of Leyton, east London, and Sarwar had been found guilty previously of a conspiracy to murder involving liquid bombs.
His "quartermaster", Sarwar, had secured bomb ingredients at his home and in woods in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire. A flat in the Walthamstow area of east London became the bomb factory.
But the jury in that first trial could not decide whether their plans extended to detonating the devices on planes. Now a second jury has decided that such a scheme did exist.
There the men put together a special home-made mixture of chemicals that they planned to take onto planes in ordinary sports drinks bottles stored within hand luggage. Ahmed Ali, of Walthamstow, Hussain, of Leyton, east London, and Sarwar had been found guilty previously of a conspiracy to murder involving liquid bombs.
The plot is believed by intelligence sources to have been directed by al-Qaeda. The BBC understands that the key contact for the plotters in Pakistan was a British man, Rashid Rauf. He was reported to have been killed in November 2008 by a US missile strike against militants in Pakistan.
The jury in that first trial could not decide whether their plans extended to detonating the devices on planes. But a second jury was convinced.
The plot became the biggest terror investigation in the UK and intelligence officers believe it was directed by al-Qaeda figures in Pakistan.
The BBC understands that the key contact for the plotters was a British man, Rashid Rauf, now thought to be dead.
'Daring plot'
'Daring plot'
With thousands killed in the air, the explosions could have caused more devastation than the September 11 attacks on the US.
Security officials on both sides of the Atlantic believe the men wanted to kill thousands in the air and possibly more on the ground in a wave of attacks causing more devastation - and political fall-out - than the 11 September attacks.
Home Secretary Alan Johnson said the plot had sparked the largest counter-terrorism investigation in UK history, known as Operation Overt.
Sue Hemming, from the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), said the plot had been sophisticated and calculated to create a terrorist attack event of "global proportions".
Sue Hemming, from the Crown Prosecution Service, said it had been "a calculated and sophisticated plot to create a terrorist event of global proportions".
"The CPS is committed to prosecuting to the full extent of the law those who would use terror to try to achieve their aims, whatever their motivation and their perceived justification," she said.
"The CPS is committed to prosecuting to the full extent of the law those who would use terror to try to achieve their aims, whatever their motivation and their perceived justification," she added.
"This trial has been another demonstration of that commitment."
"This trial has been another demonstration of that commitment."
Ibrahim Savant, 28, Arafat Khan, 28, Waheed Zaman, 25, and Donald Stewart-Whyte, 23, were all found not guilty of conspiring to murder by blowing up planes.
Other defendants
Mr Stewart-Whyte, from High Wycombe, was also cleared of a general charge of conspiracy to murder.
Umar Islam, 31, from Plaistow, east London, was convicted of conspiracy to murder, but the jury failed to reach a verdict on whether he was involved in a plot to blow up aircraft. He, like the ringleaders, faces life imprisonment.
The jury failed to reach verdicts on general conspiracy to murder charges against Mr Savant, from Stoke Newington, east London, and Mr Khan and Mr Zaman, both from Walthamstow.
An eighth man, Umar Islam, 31, from Plaistow, east London, was convicted of conspiracy to murder, but the jury failed to reach a verdict on whether he was involved in a plot to blow up aircraft.
'Political stunt'
Police installed a hidden camera in the Walthamstow flat used as a bomb factory and saw both Ahmed Ali and Hussain recording jihadist suicide videos denouncing the West.
In his, Ahmed Ali warned the British public to expect "floods of martyr operations" that would leave body parts scattered in the streets.
Alan Johnson: "This was a particularly horrendous plot"
Alan Johnson: "This was a particularly horrendous plot"
The head of the Metropolitan Police Counter-Terrorism Command, Deputy Assistant Commissioner John McDowell, said officers had to balance the desire to collect sufficient evidence with the need to step in before the plans could be put into action.
Three others were found not guilty of plotting to bomb aircraft: Ibrahim Savant, 28, Arafat Khan, 28, Waheed Zaman, 25.
"We ran this as long as we could run it as a covert, proactive operation and we moved in at the time that we felt that the risks were too great," he told the BBC.
The jury failed to reach verdicts on a more general conspiracy to murder charges against Mr Savant, from Stoke Newington, east London, and Mr Khan and Mr Zaman, both from Walthamstow. The CPS has a week to decide whether to try the men for a third time.
An eighth man, Donald Stewart-Whyte, 23, of High Wycombe, was cleared of all charges. His lawyers have called for an inquiry into why the Muslim convert was prosecuted.
The security services installed a hidden camera in the Walthamstow bomb factory and saw both Ahmed Ali and Hussain preparing devices and making arrangements for the jihadist suicide videos, recorded in the same property.
The men's defence was that they had been planning a political stunt, including small explosions intended only to frighten people at airports.
The men's defence was that they had been planning a political stunt, including small explosions intended only to frighten people at airports.
These political demonstrations, they said, would be backed up by a documentary they were making about western injustices. The videos they had made were part of that documentary, they said.
These political demonstrations, they said, would be backed up by a documentary they were making about western injustices.
The world's airlines were thrown into chaos in 2006 after the men's arrests, as security experts immediately introduced restrictions on liquids in hand luggage.
The videos they had made were part of that documentary, they said. No other material from the alleged documentary was ever uncovered.
This led to lengthy queues at some of the UK's airports during the summer holiday season.
Baroness Neville Jones, former chairwoman of the Joint Intelligence Committee, told the BBC: "This has brought home to us how potentially vulnerable travel and communication is."
But she added: "What this all shows is that with care, with vigilance, with the expenditure of effort and focus and concentration, the country can overcome this threat to us."
The CPS said it now had seven days to decide whether to seek a retrial on any of the charges over which the jury failed to reach a verdict.
Airline terror plot: The evidence
Abdulla Ahmed Ali, Tanvir Hussain and Assad Sarwar were arrested in August 2006. They were each accused of two charges of conspiracy to murder using home-made explosives.
Airline terror plot: The evidence
Abdulla Ahmed Ali, Tanvir Hussain and Assad Sarwar were arrested in August 2006. They were each accused of two charges of conspiracy to murder using home-made explosives.
All three were found guilty in an earlier trial of conspiracy to murder involving liquid bombs - but that jury could not decide whether their plans extended to detonating the devices on planes.
All three were found guilty in an earlier trial of conspiracy to murder involving liquid bombs - but that jury could not decide whether their plans extended to detonating the devices on planes.
Now a second jury has decided that such a terror plot did exist.
Now a second jury has decided that such a terror plot did exist.
Arrests took place in police raids across north and east London, triggering a huge airport security crackdown. Other suspects were arrested in High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire.1. Ali and Sarwar: Guilty of conspiracy to murder using explosives on aircraft 2. Tanvir Hussain: Guilty of conspiracy to murder using explosives on aircraft3. Umar Islam: Guilty of conspiracy to murder4. Arafat Khan: Hung verdict on conspiracy to murder5. Ibrahim Savant: Hung verdict on conspiracy to murder6. Waheed Zaman: Hung verdict on conspiracy to murder
Arrests took place in police raids across north and east London, triggering a huge airport security crackdown. Other suspects were arrested in High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire.1. Ali and Sarwar: Guilty of conspiracy to murder using explosives on aircraft 2. Tanvir Hussain: Guilty of conspiracy to murder using explosives on aircraft3. Umar Islam: Guilty of conspiracy to murder4. Arafat Khan: Hung verdict on conspiracy to murder5. Ibrahim Savant: Hung verdict on conspiracy to murder6. Waheed Zaman: Hung verdict on conspiracy to murder
Donald Stewart-Whyte (not shown) was cleared of all charges.-->
The prosecution alleged that the three ringleaders planned to explode home-made bombs disguised as soft drinks on seven trans-Atlantic flights from London's Heathrow airport.
1. 1415 UA931 LHR-SAN FRANCISCO (United Airlines)
2. 1500 AC849 LHR-TORONTO (Air Canada)
3. 1515 AC865 LHR-MONTREAL (Air Canada)
4. 1540 UA959 LHR-CHICAGO (United Airlines)
5. 1620 UA925 LHR-WASHINGTON (United Airlines)
6. 1635 AA131 LHR-NEW YORK (American Airlines)
7. 1650 AA91 LHR-CHICAGO (American Airlines)
During their investigation police found equipment that could have been used to make bombs in King's Wood, High Wycombe, and in Forest Road, east London. Assad Sarwar, the quartermaster, bought a suitcase to store bomb parts in the woods near to his home. There, he hid bottles of hydrogen peroxide, also known as hair bleach. This chemical was the key ingredient for the home-made bombs.At the bomb factory in east London, the ringleaders experimented with the design of their devices which were to be disguised as soft drink bottles. The small bombs would then be smuggled in hand luggage through airport security.
The theory of bomb construction is detailed above, but precise details shown to jurors have been omitted.
This video simulates the damage caused by a liquid bomb to a commercial airliner. The BBC used a qualified explosives engineer, Sidney Alford, to construct the devices to demonstrate their likely effect on an aircraft fuselage.
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Donald Stewart-Whyte (not shown) was cleared of all charges.-->
The prosecution alleged that the three ringleaders planned to explode home-made bombs disguised as soft drinks on seven trans-Atlantic flights from London's Heathrow airport.
1. 1415 UA931 LHR-SAN FRANCISCO (United Airlines)
2. 1500 AC849 LHR-TORONTO (Air Canada)
3. 1515 AC865 LHR-MONTREAL (Air Canada)
4. 1540 UA959 LHR-CHICAGO (United Airlines)
5. 1620 UA925 LHR-WASHINGTON (United Airlines)
6. 1635 AA131 LHR-NEW YORK (American Airlines)
7. 1650 AA91 LHR-CHICAGO (American Airlines)
During their investigation police found equipment that could have been used to make bombs in King's Wood, High Wycombe, and in Forest Road, east London. Assad Sarwar, the quartermaster, bought a suitcase to store bomb parts in the woods near to his home. There, he hid bottles of hydrogen peroxide, also known as hair bleach. This chemical was the key ingredient for the home-made bombs.At the bomb factory in east London, the ringleaders experimented with the design of their devices which were to be disguised as soft drink bottles. The small bombs would then be smuggled in hand luggage through airport security.
The theory of bomb construction is detailed above, but precise details shown to jurors have been omitted.
This video simulates the damage caused by a liquid bomb to a commercial airliner. The BBC used a qualified explosives engineer, Sidney Alford, to construct the devices to demonstrate their likely effect on an aircraft fuselage.
