Five Convicted of Plotting to Attack London
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LONDON (AP) – A jury convicted five men Monday of plotting to use a 1,300 pound fertilizer bomb to attack a London nightclub, power plants or a shopping mall following a yearlong trial, the country’s longest-ever terror case.
Details that previously were kept secret to ensure a fair trial showed ties between the five and a group who bombed the London transit system in 2005, as well as with other Al Qaeda linked cells.
Omar Khyam was found guilty of conspiracy to cause explosions made from chemical fertilizer which would endanger life. Also found guilty in the conspiracy were Anthony Garcia, Jawad Akbar, Waheed Mahmood and Alahuddin Amin.
The verdicts were read after a record of nearly 135 hours of deliberation over 27 days. The five men who were convicted showed no emotion.
The judge, Sir Michael Astill, rejected defense claims that the plot had been abandoned.
“This was a conspiracy that did not come to fruition, no doubt because of the intervention of the security services,” Astill said.
Two others, Nabeel Hussain and Shujah Mahmood, were cleared of conspiracy to cause explosions.
Shujah Mahmood gave a sigh of relief after being acquitted. Hussain immediately bent down to the floor as the verdict was read.
