London: Three British Muslim extremists were all handed life sentences on Monday after being found guilty last week of plotting to blow up transatlantic passenger aircraft with home-made liquid bombs.
The 28-year-old ringleader of the group, Abdulla Ahmed Ali, was given a minimum of 40 years in prison, while his accomplices Assad Sarwar, 29, and Tanvir Hussain, 28, received a minimum of 36 and 32 years, respectively.
"I have concluded you are a driven and determined extremist with boundless energy and an ambition to lead a terrorist outrage of boundless proportion. By this conspiracy you sought the attention of the world, and you now have it," trial judge Richard Henriques told Ali during sentencing.
The thwarted suicide attack, intercepted by British intelligence services in August 2006, would have been the "worst atrocity since 9/11 and inflicted heavy casualties in the name of Islam," the court in London heard last week.
The plan to blow up seven airliners crossing the Atlantic to Canada and the US led to a worldwide ban on carrying liquids in hand luggage.
All three men, though born in Britain, had close links with Pakistan. Four other men were found not guilty of the plot.
Henriques said the defendants had "embraced Islamic extremism and it is that burning extremism that has motivated you throughout this conspiracy and is likely to drive you again."
The judge also decried the "massive expenditure" and "huge inconvenience for the travelling public" as a result of the terrorist attempt.
"Tons of liquids are confiscated from the public on a daily basis at airports," the judge said. The tighter security measures, and the restrictions on liquids on flights, was "entirely attributable to this conspiracy."
At a trial a year ago, Ali, Hussain and Sarwar were found guilty of conspiracy to murder involving liquid bombs - but that jury could not decide whether their plans extended to detonating the devices on planes.
An appeal by Britain's Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) led to a retrial, with the jury concluding that such a terror plot did exist, ulitmately leading to a last Monday's convictions at Woolwich Crown Court in London.
The prosecution alleged that the attack would have caused "mass murder on an unimaginable scale" and would have "exceeded the carnage" of the September 11 attacks in the US in 2001.
Reports said the security services, courts and police had spent a total of 35 million pounds (57 million dollars) on foiling the plot and bringing the men to justice.
The court heard that Ali, from London, singled out seven flights to San Francisco, Toronto, Montreal, Washington, New York and Chicago that departed from London's Heathrow airport within a two-and-a-half hour period.
The jets were operated by United Airlines, American Airlines and Air Canada.
Hollowed-out fruit drink bottles filled with hydrogen-peroxide would have been detonated in mid-air, leaving the authorities on both sides of the Atlantic powerless to stop the destruction, the court heard.
The prosecution alleged that the plot was drawn up in Pakistan with detailed instructions passed to Ali during frequent trips to its border region with Afghanistan.
Undercover surveillance officers had watched Ali converting a flat in east London into a bomb factory, which was also used to record suicide videos in which the British public was warned to expect "floods of martyr operations."
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