Three guilty of UK airline bomb plot

Three men have been found guilty of plotting to kill thousands of people by blowing up planes from London to North America 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.

Four other men were found not guilty of involvement in the airline plot. The men's arrests in August 2006 led to new airport restrictions on liquids and brought chaos to travellers.

The jury heard that at the time of his arrest the plot's ringleader, Ali, had identified seven flights leaving Heathrow for San Francisco, Toronto, Montreal, Washington, New York and Chicago. His so-called "quartermaster", Sarwar, had secured bomb ingredients at his home in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, and a flat in the Walthamstow area of east London had become the bomb factory.

• "Airline bomb plotters' links to al-Qaida and other convicted terrorists", Guardian, 9/7/09.
• "Airline bomb plotters sought 'truly global impact'", Guardian, 9/7/09.