Martyrdom videos help convict terror plotters

Ibrahim Savant, Arafat Waheed Khan and Waheed Zaman were yesterday convicted of conspiracy to murder.

The three were recruited by the ringleader of an al-Qaida-inspired plot to detonate homemade liquid bombs on transatlantic jets.

They were earlier cleared by a jury of their role in targeting aircraft but found guilty at a retrial of plotting mass murder.

Yesterday's judgment at Woolwich Crown Court brings to an end a sprawling series of trials following an August 2006 operation to smash the largest terrorist plot ever discovered in the UK.

The police and MI5 inquiry would eventually cost more than 30m.

The discoveries also led to widescale restrictions on carrying fluids on aircraft.

Mastermind Abdulla Ahmed Ali developed a home-made hydrogen peroxide bomb that could be disguised as a soft drink and assembled after going through airport security.

He recruited friends and associates to act as suicide bombers as they recorded martyrdom videos at a flat in Walthamstow, east London.

Ali singled out seven flights to San Francisco, Toronto, Montreal, Washington, New York and Chicago that departed within two-and-a-half hours of each other.

If successful, the explosions could have exceeded the carnage of the September 11 attacks.

With two others, Ali was found guilty of the airline bomb plot last year.

Deputy assistant commissioner Stuart Osborne, of the Metropolitan Police, said: "These three men claimed they recorded their martyrdom videos as part of a documentary; however, when presented with all the evidence, the jury was satisfied that they were deadly serious in their intent and were party to the conspiracy to murder.

"Sadly, this case also highlights that there are people out there who are intent on causing us harm."

Home Secretary Theresa May said: "National security is our top priority and this result reflects the continued and serious threat we face."

Savant, 29, of Stoke Newington, Khan, 29, of Walthamstow, and Zaman, 26, of Walthamstow, will be sentenced on Monday.