11 suspects in UK air bomb plot charged

August 21, 2006

Charges have been laid against 11 of the 23 suspects being detained by British police for an alleged plot to blow up several trans-Atlantic airliners.

Eight men were charged with conspiracy to commit murder and preparing acts of terrorism, said Peter Clarke, deputy commissioner of Scotland Yard's anti-terrorist branch during a news conference in London, Monday.

The eight are Abdullah Ahmed Ali, 25, Tanvir Hussain, 25, Umar Islam, 28, Arafat Waheed Khan, 25, Assad Ali Sarwar, 26, Adam Khatib, 19, Ibrahim Savant 25, and Waheed Zaman, 22.

Two others were charged with failing to disclose information about potential acts of terrorism, whilst a 17-year-old is charged with possession of articles useful to a person preparing acts of terrorism under Section Five of the Terrorism Act, 2006.

A woman was released without charges being laid leaving an additional 11 suspects in custody without charges, according to the Crown Prosecution Service.

The suspects have been in detention since August 10 when they were arrested in connection with an alleged plot to set off explosives on at least 10 flights between the United States and the United Kingdom.

Susan Hemming, head of the CPS counter terrorism division, said the alleged plot was to "manufacture and smuggle the component parts of improvised explosive devices on to aircraft and assemble and detonate them on board".