World

Liquid restrictions to remain at UK airports

by Dave Keating | September 9, 2008 at 03:48 am

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Following a jury's decision yesterday that the government's case against the men accused of planning to use liquids on planes as explosives could not be substantiated, the UK government says it will still continue to forbid passengers to take liquids on airplanes.

Restrictions on carrying liquids onboard flights from British airports will remain in place, the government said on Monday, despite a jury in a major terrorism trial failing to find any conspiracy to target transatlantic aircraft.

Thousands of international flights were affected and liquids were banned from aircraft in 2006 after police said they had uncovered a plot to blow up planes midway across the Atlantic.

But on Monday a jury failed to convict eight suspects of planning to smuggle explosives onto half a dozen aircraft at London's Heathrow airport and blow them up.

Instead three men -- Abdulla Ahmed Ali, Assad Sarwar and Tanvir Hussain -- were found guilty of conspiracy to kill using homemade liquid bombs, a lesser charge.

The jury failed to reach a verdict on four other defendants and the eighth was found not guilty on all charges.