Transatlantic plane bomb plotters jailed for life
By Robin Millard (AFP) – September 14, 2009
LONDON — Three British Muslims were sentenced Monday to life in jail for plotting to blow up transatlantic airliners with liquid bombs in Al-Qaeda-inspired suicide attacks on the scale of September 11.
Judge Richard Henriques said the plot was "the most grave and wicked conspiracy ever proven within this jurisdiction", as he passed sentence at the top-security Woolwich Crown Court in southeast London.
"The intention was to perpetrate a terrorist outrage that would stand alongside the events of September 11, 2001 in history," he said.
The plot, foiled in August 2006, triggered the wide-ranging rules now in place on carrying liquids aboard commercial aircraft.
Ringleader Abdulla Ahmed Ali, 28, was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum 40-year term.
The plot's "chemist and quartermaster" Assad Sarwar, 29, must spend a minimum of 36 years behind bars, while fellow plotter Tanvir Hussain, 28, Ali's right-hand man, must serve at least 32 years.
The trio were told they may never be released.
The counter-terrorism operation to foil the London-based plot was the biggest ever in Britain, costing 35 million pounds (58 million dollars, 40 million euros).
Henriques said: "There is every likelihood that this plot would have succeeded but for the intervention of the police and the security service.
"A massive loss of life would almost certainly have resulted."
The plotters targeted seven flights from London's Heathrow airport to New York, Washington, Chicago, San Francisco, Toronto and Montreal. The jets would have been mid-air simultaneously, prosecutors said.
Some of the men recorded so-called martyrdom videos featuring threats to the West of waves of terrorist attacks.
"This was a viable and meticulously planned conspiracy and I conclude it was imminent," Henriques said.
The plot was "an act of revenge inspired by extremist Islamic thinking", aimed at the "governments of several allied forces in Iraq and Afghanistan", he added.
The tighter security measures and restrictions on liquids now seen on flights worldwide are "entirely attributable to this conspiracy", he said.
The judge said emails showed "the ultimate control of this conspiracy lay in Pakistan", saying the plot was run, monitored and funded from there.
The six-month trial was peppered with evidence that the gang was frequently in communication with Al-Qaeda-linked figures in Pakistan.
On September 7, a jury found Ali, Sarwar and Hussain guilty of conspiracy to murder by blowing up transatlantic airliners.
Prosecutors said they plotted to drill holes in the bottom of plastic drinks bottles, drain the contents and inject liquid explosive with a syringe before sealing the holes with glue. That way the bottle tops would remain unopened.
The home-made liquid explosive was to be concocted from hydrogen peroxide and Tang, a soft drink available in powdered form.
When mixed with such an organic material at an appropriate strength, hydrogen peroxide has explosive qualities.
The bottles would be detonated using the substance HTMD, concealed in regular AA 1.5-volt batteries.
Henriques said the gang had other targets in their sights, including power installations.
"You had within your contemplation a campaign of bombing which would have a devastating effect upon this country," he said.
A fourth man, 31-year-old Umar Islam, who was convicted of the more general charge of conspiracy to murder, was sentenced to life in jail with a minimum term of 22 years.
John McDowall, head of the British police's Counter Terrorism Command, said: "This has been a lengthy, resource-intensive and meticulous investigation, which has culminated in the convictions and today's long sentences.
"I cannot thank enough all those involved in bringing these terrorists to justice."
Prosecutors are seeking a third trial for three men found not guilty of plotting to blow up airliners, following a hung jury on the wider charge of conspiracy to murder.
A hearing on October 5 will determine whether Ibrahim Savant, 28, Arafat Waheed Khan, 28, and Waheed Zaman, 25, will face another trial.
Copyright © 2009 AFP. All rights reserved.
