Airline bomb plot ringleader gets 40 years in UK

[David]

AP


LONDON – A British judge on Monday sentenced the ringleader of a plot to bring down trans-Atlantic planes with liquid explosives to at least 40 years in jail and three fellow British Muslims to long prison sentences.

The sentences for the planned suicide bombings were among the longest ever handed out by a British court in a terrorism case.

Ringleader Abdulla Ahmed Ali, 28, was given a minimum sentence of 40 years for plotting the biggest terrorist attack since Sept. 11, 2001.

Assad Sarwar, 29, was ordered to serve at least 36 years in prison and Tanvir Hussain, 28, was sentenced at least 32 years.

A fourth man, Umar Islam, 31, was found guilty of conspiracy to murder and received a minimum of 22 years. Jurors were unable to decide in his case whether he intended to target aircraft in the plot.

The men had planned to smuggle explosives aboard the planes disguised as soft drinks and detonate them while flying. Prosecutors said they were likely just days away from mounting their suicide attacks when they were arrested in August 2006.

Their arrests led to travel chaos as hundreds of jetliners were grounded across Europe. Discovery of the plot also triggered long-term changes to airport security worldwide, including new restrictions on the amount of liquids and gels that passengers can take onto flights.

Judge Richard Henriques said the men were guilty of a "grave and wicked conspiracy" that would likely have succeeded if they had not been arrested.

"The intention was to perpetrate a terrorist outrage that would stand alongside the events of Sept. 11, 2001 in history," the judge said.

[SuperScout]

We can only wonder and speculate just how much direct involvement that our CIA or NSA had in the arrest of these POS that have no regard for human life. Had we fought the war with our hands tied behind our backs, like the whiners and snivelers want, and that the ACLU demands, these POS would probably have been free to carry out their murderous attacks. So we 'eavesdropped' on some suspected terrorists, and that eavesdropping revealed their true intent. Isn't that better than having four airlines lying at the bottom of the Atlantic ocean, with all the pasengers and crew dead? We need to seriously re-think this "privacy" issue before more us end up dead.

[Boats]

Why don't they just take these guys out to a wall and shoot them once they are found guilty? What good is 40 years in jail? At x# of $$ per day to lock them up. If they had accomplished their task and killed many people would they then shoot them or just lock them up for 80 years? Whose to say a pardon down the road wouldn't be given.

This whole issue of catching the bad guys and then giving them long terms in prison seems senseless and a waste of money just to throw these dirt bags into the slammer - when if given a chance they would do it again - if given the opportunity.