Three men were found guilty Monday of plotting to blow up planes on flights between Britain and the United States and Canada, Woolwich Crown Court in London has said.
Abdullah Ahmed Ali, Assad Sarwar and Tanwir Hussain were all found guilty of conspiracy to murder in a majority verdict of 11 to 1. Five other men were found not guilty. It was the second trial of the men arrested in August 2006 on suspicion of plotting to blow up planes with liquid explosives in soft-drink bottles. They could be sentenced as early as Thursday, a court spokesman said. The alleged plot led to new limits on the amount of liquids passengers can take through security checkpoints at airports. The measures, which were introduced overnight, caused severe disruption for travelers, creating delays and many canceled flights.
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Men ‘plotted to blow up jets with liquid bombs’
Authorities have since eased restrictions on what can be taken on planes, although limits on the amount of liquid that passengers can carry onboard still apply at certain airports and on certain routes. It was the second trial for the men, after British prosecutors said last December they would retry them because the jury could not reach a verdict on another charge. They were found guilty in the last trial of conspiracy to murder, but not of intending to endanger the safety of aircraft. In the new trial, they faced a slightly different charge — plotting to murder by blowing up planes.
