Published: Monday, 30th April, 2007 12:39
Terrorists face record jail terms
By Observer Newsroom
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Five terrorists from the same al-Qaeda cell as the 7/7 London bombers are facing record jail sentences today (Monday) for plotting Britain's biggest-ever mass murder.
Among them was Omar Khyam, 25, who lived in a flat in Hencroft Street, Slough, and was married in the town in 2004.
The ‘fertiliser bombers’ were poised to kill hundreds of people, at a packed nightclub or shopping centre, with a massive device made from half a ton of ammonium nitrate and aluminium powder.
They had also discussed detonating a 'dirty' nuclear bomb, blowing up a gas mains and packing remote controlled planes with explosives to cause a series of terrorist outrages.
Khyam, Waheed Mahmood, 35, Jawad Akbar, 23, all of Crawley, West Sussex, as well as Anthony Garcia, 25, from Ilford, Essex and Salahuddin Amin, 32, of Luton were all found guilty at the end Britain's biggest ever terror trial, which cost over £50 million.
Shujah Mahmood, 20, of Crawley and Nabeel Hussain, 22, from Horley, Surrey were cleared.
All seven had denied conspiracy to cause an explosion likely to endanger life or injure property between January 1, 2003 and March 31, 2004.
Khyam and Garcia were also charged with possessing the 600kg of fertiliser for the purposes of terrorism between November 11, 2003 and March 31, 2004. Hussain was cleared of this charge.
Khyam was also convicted of possessing aluminium powder for purposes connected with terrorism between October 1, 2003 and March 31, 2004. Shujah Mahmood was cleared of this charge.
For much more on this story see Friday’s Observer.
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