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| Three guilty of airline bomb plot | Three guilty of airline bomb plot |
| (10 minutes later) | |
| Three men have been found guilty of plotting to kill thousands of people by blowing up planes over the Atlantic with home-made liquid bombs. | Three men have been found guilty of plotting to kill thousands of people by blowing up planes over the Atlantic 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 airline plot. | Four other men were found not guilty of involvement in the airline plot. |
| The men's arrests in 2006 led to new airport restrictions on liquids and brought chaos to travellers. | The men's arrests in 2006 led to new airport restrictions on liquids and brought chaos to travellers. |
| The plot's ringleader Ali, along with Hussain and Sarwar, was previously found guilty of conspiracy to murder involving liquid bombs - but that jury could not decide whether the three men's plans extended to detonating the devices on planes. | The plot's ringleader Ali, along with Hussain and Sarwar, was previously found guilty of conspiracy to murder involving liquid bombs - but that jury could not decide whether the three men's 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. |
| With thousands killed in the air, the explosions could have caused more devastation than the September 11 attacks. | With thousands killed in the air, the explosions could have caused more devastation than the September 11 attacks. |
| 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." | 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." | 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." |
| 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. | 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. |
| GUILTY OF AIRLINE BOMB PLOT Abdulla Ahmed AliAssad SarwarTanvir Hussain href="/2/hi/uk_news/8242321.stm">Airline bomb plot: the verdicts class="" href="/2/hi/uk_news/8233954.stm">Full verdicts explained Airline bomb plot: the emails | |
| Mr Stewart-Whyte was also cleared of a general charge of conspiracy to murder. | Mr Stewart-Whyte was also cleared of a general charge of conspiracy to murder. |
| The jury failed to reach verdicts on general conspiracy to murder charges against Mr Savant, Mr Khan and Mr Zaman. | The jury failed to reach verdicts on general conspiracy to murder charges against Mr Savant, Mr Khan and Mr Zaman. |
| An eighth man, Umar Islam, 31, 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. | An eighth man, Umar Islam, 31, 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. |
| Bomb factory | Bomb factory |
| The court was told MI5 officers uncovered the plotters as they followed cells of extremists in London. | The court was told MI5 officers uncovered the plotters as they followed cells of extremists in London. |
| The jury heard that, at the time of the men's arrest in August 2006, Ali had identified seven flights leaving from Heathrow to North American cities. | The jury heard that, at the time of the men's arrest in August 2006, Ali had identified seven flights leaving from Heathrow to North American cities. |
| Sarwar, meanwhile, was described as the plot's "quartermaster", securing bomb ingredients from his home in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire. | Sarwar, meanwhile, was described as the plot's "quartermaster", securing bomb ingredients from his home in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire. |
| A flat in the Walthamstow area of east London became the bomb factory, where the men put together a special mixture of chemicals. | A flat in the Walthamstow area of east London became the bomb factory, where the men put together a special mixture of chemicals. |
| They planned to take this mixture, sealed in ordinary sports drinks bottles, on board flights in hand luggage. | They planned to take this mixture, sealed in ordinary sports drinks bottles, on board flights in hand luggage. |
| The men told the court that they had been planning a political stunt, including small explosions only intended to frighten people at airports. | The men told the court that they had been planning a political stunt, including small explosions only intended to frighten people at airports. |
| The world's aviation industry was thrown into chaos in 2006 after their arrests, as security experts immediately introduced restrictions on liquids in hand luggage. | The world's aviation industry was thrown into chaos in 2006 after their arrests, as security experts immediately introduced restrictions on liquids in hand luggage. |