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3 admit plot to blow up planes

LONDON: Three men arrested in August 2006 in connection with a sensational plot to blow up U.S.-bound flights taking off from Heathrow airport, on Monday, admitted to conspiring to cause explosions but denied they wanted to kill anyone.

In a chilling account, the prosecution alleged that the three — Abdulla Ahmed Ali, Assad Sarwar and Tanvir Hussain — planned to blow up planes by exploding home-made bombs disguised as soft drinks and to “murder as many civilian passengers as possible upon as many civilian aircraft as possible.” Presenting the prosecution’s case, Peter Wright, QC, told the Woolwich Crown Court they were “prepared to kill and to do so on a wholly indiscriminate basis, irrespective of age, belief, sex and to do so without the slightest blink of an eye.”

But the accused denied two charges of conspiracy to murder while admitting to the lesser charge of conspiring to cause public nuisance.

Abdulla Ahmed Ali, the alleged ringleader, and Assad Sarwar claimed they wanted to draw attention to their anger over British foreign policy by causing a small explosion at the Houses of Parliament. The explosion would not have hurt anyone, they claimed.

They also admitted to planning to make videos threatening to set off bombs in places like airports to highlight the “injustices” against Muslims in Iraq, Afghanistan and Lebanon.

The three men are among the eight arrested following the discovery of the plot in 2006 sparking a nation-wide alert and enhanced security measures at airports in the U.K. and on planes, including a ban on carrying liquids onboard.

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