Alleged jet plot 'to slaughter civilians'

Eight men accused of plotting to blow up transatlantic jets wanted to inflict "heavy casualties in the name of Islam", a court has heard.Woolwich Crown Court in southeast London heard of a plan to smuggle home-made liquid bombs on to US and Canadian-bound planes, which would be detonated mid-flight by a suicide bomber.Prosecutor Peter Wright QC said the victims of the attacks would have been an "unwitting civilian population" killed during co-ordinated explosions.The men deny two charges linked to the alleged plot, which anti-terror police foiled in August 2006 and which resulted in hundreds of flights being cancelled and strict security measures imposed on passengers.The first charge alleges the eight conspired to murder between January 1 and August 11, 2006. The second alleges they conspired to commit an act of violence likely to endanger the safety of an aircraft between the same dates.Mr Wright described how two of the men in the dock were watched by police as they met in Walthamstow, north London, on August 9, 2006. He told the jury they might conclude from the evidence that the defendants were "almost ready to put their plot into practice" at the time of their arrests.He said: "The disaster they contemplated was not long off," adding that the men and others were prepared to board the aircraft carrying their "deadly cargo" and detonate it in flight.He continued: "They were prepared to board an aircraft with the necessary ingredients and equipment to construct and detonate a device that would bring about not only the loss of their own lives but also all of those who happened by chance to be taking the same journey."The accused are: Abdulla Ahmed Ali, aka Ahmed Ali Khan, 27, of Prospect Hill, Walthamstow, east London, Assad Sarwar, 27, of Walton Drive, High Wycombe, Bucks, Tanvir Hussain, 27, of Nottingham Road, Leyton, east London, Mohammed Gulzar, 26, of Priory Road, Barking, east London, Ibrahim Savant, 27, of Denver Road, Stoke Newington, north London, Arafat Waheed Khan, 26, of Farnham Avenue, Walthamstow, Waheed Zaman, 23, of Queen's Road, Walthamstow and Umar Islam, aka Brian Young, 29, of Bushey Road, Plaistow, east London.On Wednesday, the judge, Mr Justice Calvert-Smith, warned jurors the trial would be long.

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ITN | April 3, 2008

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