Three men accused of plotting to blow up as many as 10 airplanes flying from the United Kingdom to Canada and the United States have pleaded guilty in London.
Abdullah Ali, 27, Assad Sarwar, 28, and Tanvir Hussain, 27, pleaded guilty in Woolwich Crown Court in London to conspiracy to commit murder and conspiracy to create a public nuisance on September 8, 2008. The men were arrested and charged along with five other suspects in August 2006 for plotting to detonate various liquid explosives aboard transatlantic flights originating from England.
The jury acquitted defendant Mohammed Gulzar on all counts, but was unable to reach a verdict on the four remaining defendants; Arafat Khan, Ibrahim Savant, Umar Islam and Waheed Zaman.
The suspects, most of whom are British nationals of Pakistani decent, reportedly planned to mix liquid and gel-like substances hidden in a sports drink to make explosive liquids that could be ignited by an MP3 player, digital camera flash or cell phone. The suspects were planning to stage a test run within a couple of days of their arrest, according to government officials. The men targeted flights that were headed for New York, Washington, Chicago, San Francisco, Montreal and Toronto.
Prior to their arrest, investigators found bomb-making equipment inside Ali’s apartment, including hydrogen peroxide and electrical components, according to authorities. Six of the men made videos that were intended to be released as the attacks were in progress. In the videos, Ali credited Osama bin Laden and called for the destruction of the West with plans to “punish and humiliate” all who stand in the way of Islam. Hussain admitted that he “dreamt of this for years” and expressed sadness for being able to commit a suicide mission only once in his life.
Khan, Savant, Islam and Zaman have pleaded guilty to conspiracy to cause a public nuisance by making these suicide videos.
Several of the defendants – including Ali, Sarwar and Zaman – were involved with Tablighi Jamaat, a strict Islamic movement that has been labeled by the FBI as a “recruiting ground for Al Qaeda.” Tablighi operates from several mosques in the U.K., including one that many of the defendants worshipped in. Other terrorists have also followed Tablighi Jamaat, including Richard Reid, the so-called “shoe bomber;” Jose Padilla, a U.S. citizen who has been sentenced to more than 17 years in prison for conspiracy to provide and providing material support to terrorists; and the Lackawanna Six, a group of six Yemeni-Americans who were convicted of providing material support to Al Qaeda.
British prosecutors have announced they will retry the defendants on the deadlocked charges. All seven remaining defendants will be retried on conspiracy to murder by detonating explosives on an aircraft. Khan, Islam, Savant and Zaman will also face charges of conspiracy to murder persons unknown.
