Abdulla Ali, Assad Sarwar and Tanvir Hussain
were found guilty
Heathrow Plot Ends with Mixed Verdict -John Burns & Elaine Sciolino
A lengthy trial centering on a plot to blow up trans-Atlantic airliners ended with the jury convicting three of eight defendants [pictured above] of conspiracy to commit murder.
But the jury failed to reach verdicts on the most serious charges, involving an alleged conspiracy to have suicide bombers armed with soft-drinks bottles filled with liquid explosives destroy seven airliners headed for the United States and Canada on the same day.
The failure to get convictions on the alleged plane-bombing plot represented a major setback for counter-terrorism officials. [E]xperts had said the plot had all the earmarks of an Al Qaeda operation, and noted that the death toll could have been in the thousands.
Scotland Yard’s arrest of the eight men in 2006 set off a worldwide alarm in the airline industry, and led to a tightening of airport security, including restrictions on passengers carrying liquids and creams in their carry-on luggage that remain in force at most airports around the globe.
Scotland Yard terrorism experts said that [the] key role in the plot appeared to have been played by Mohammed Gulzar [pictured at right], aged 26, the only defendant to be found not guilty on all charges and set free.
[New York Times]
2 comments:
You have to wonder either, how bad the prosecution performed, or how much disinformation was disseminated to the general public.
The problem had to do with premature arrests...Scotland Yard did not want to move in on the cell so early [they were still gathering data] but were forced to by circumstances. It apparently weakened their case.
Not comforting news.
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