Airline bomb trial: Five potential suicide bombers 'still at large'

by Dave Keating | September 8, 2008 at 11:14 pm

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Yesterday three of the British Muslims who changed the way we fly when they planned to use liquid explosives on planes were convicted of conspiracy to commit terrorism. But the jury was unable to conclude whether four of the other men accused of the crime were also guilty.

Today UK police said that up to five other people involved in the plot are still at large.

The al-Qaeda terrorists planned to cause carnage by detonating liquid-based bombs disguised as soft drinks, and recorded suicide videos in which they promised "body parts" would be scattered on the streets.

The police and MI5 believed the extremists wanted to cause an "unprecedented" loss of life with simultaneous suicide attacks on several transatlantic airliners bound for America. The arrest of the gang in 2006 led to permanent restrictions on liquids being carried in hand luggage.

But a jury was unable to agree on whether Abdulla Ahmed Ali, Assad Sarwar and Tanvir Hussain had decided on specific targets, and instead they were convicted of conspiracy to murder "persons unknown".

Four other men are likely to face a retrial after the jury failed to agree on whether they were part of the plot.