'Lucozade bombers plotted to kill 1,000s'

Published on Tuesday 17 February 2009 20:58

THOUSANDS of people would have died in a terrorist plot to detonate home-made bombs on seven transatlantic jets, a court heard yesterday.

Eight Islamic extremists conspired to smuggle bombs constructed from household goods and disguised as soft drinks on to the aircraft, Woolwich Crown Court was told.

Prosecutor Peter Wright, QC, said the London-based cell intended to cause civilian deaths on an "unprecedented scale" and strike a blow that "would reverberate across the globe".

Six members of the gang recorded martyrdom videos as they prepared to carry out their deadly plan, the jury heard.

Each of the men sat down to record chilling messages threatening violence against the West in revenge for the "oppression" of Muslims.

The plot was led by two ringleaders acting on instructions from masterminds in Pakistan, to draw together a gang of suicide bombers from radicalised and vulnerable young Muslims, Mr Wright said.

Opening the prosecution yesterday, he told the court some defendants were "foot soldiers" with no knowledge of the scale of the conspiracy but who had the "cold-eyed certainty of the fanatic".

He said: "They were prepared to strike a blow in which they would lose their lives but it was a blow that would reverberate across the globe."

He added: "These men were indifferent to the carnage that was likely to ensue if their plans were successful. To them the identity of their victims was an irrelevance, by race, colour, religion or creed."

The jury was told that the conspiracy was uncovered when counter-terrorist police swooped on senior gang figures, Abdulla Ahmed Ali and Assad Sarwar, in a Walthamstow car park on 9 August, 2006.

A computer memory stick holding details of flights from Heathrow Airport to North America from August 2006 onwards was found in Ali's pocket.

An address book containing detailed instructions and preparations for the terrorist strike was found in another pocket, the prosecution alleged.

Ordinary 500ml Lucozade and Oasis soft drinks bottles would be used as containers for a deadly mixture of hydrogen peroxide and a sugary drink, the jury was told.

This main charge would be sparked using a detonator constructed from hollow batteries containing a different volatile chemical and a lightbulb filament. Mr Wright said the bombs were designed to evade airport security measures, including X-ray machines.

The gang targeted flights leaving Terminal Three at London Heathrow within the space of three hours. The planes were travelling to Montreal and Toronto in Canada and San Francisco, Washington, Chicago and New York in the United States.

Mr Wright said other key conspirators were overheard discussing whether to target other flights from different terminals with as many as 18 suicide bombers. Martyrdom videos recorded by six members of the gang were discovered by police, the jury was told.

Two of the men, Arafat Waheed Khan and Umar Islam, featured on a cassette tape found in Sarwar's car.

Recordings by Ali, Ibrahim Savant, Waheed Zaman and Tanvir Hussain, and a second by Khan, were found in the garage of Sarwar's High Wycombe home. Mr Wright said: "Each of them was delivered by men similarly dressed, similarly minded, similarly committed."

In his video, Islam donned a traditional Islamic headscarf and used a black Arabic flag as a backdrop. He said: "I say to you disbelievers that as you bomb, you will be bombed. As you kill, you will be killed."

Islam stated that Westerners would be killed in revenge attacks, and accused Britons of being complacent.

All eight men each deny conspiracy to murder, contrary to the 1977 Criminal Law Act. Those in the dock range in age from 22 to 30 and are from London and High Wycombe.

The trial continues.

BACKGROUND

THE plotters chose seven flights from London to North America as potential targets for a series of bomb attacks, the jury heard yesterday.

The services all left Terminal 3 at Heathrow Airport and would have been in the air at the same time, Woolwich Crown Court was told.

A memory stick belonging to Abdulla Ahmed Ali was found to contain flight timetables, baggage information and security advice on restricted items.

The aircraft researched included 777, 767 and 763 jets with a passenger capacity of between 241 and 285 people.

Seven particular flights from Heathrow to Canada and the United States were highlighted on Ali's memory stick, and only outbound flights were noted.

These were:

&#149 1415 United Airlines flight 931 to San Francisco

&#149 1500 Air Canada flight 849 to Toronto

&#149 1515 Air Canada flight 865 to Montreal

&#149 1540 United Airlines flight 959 to Chicago

&#149 1620 United Airlines flight 925 to Washington

&#149 1635 American Airlines flight 139 to New York

&#149 1650 American Airlines flight 91 to Chicago.

'You are too busy watching EastEnders, and Home and Away'

This is the text of an alleged martyrdom tape by made by one of the accused, Umar Islam:

I say to you disbelievers that as you bomb, you will be bombed. As you kill, you will be killed.

And if you want to kill our women and children then the same thing will happen to you. This is not a joke.

(Apparently addressing the British public] You are just sitting there, you are still funding the army, you have not put down your leader, you have not pressured them enough.

You are too busy watching Home and Away and EastEnders, complaining about the World Cup and drinking your alcohol, to care about anything.

That is all you seem to care about and I know, because I have come from that.