Mao
08-22-2006, 03:14 PM
(http://newsbox.msn.co.uk/article.aspx?as=adimarticle&f=uk_-_olgbtopnews&t=4023&id=3460368&d=20060822&do=http://newsbox.msn.co.uk&i=http://newsbox.msn.co.uk/mediaexportlive&ks=0&mc=5&ml=ma&lc=en&ae=windows-1252)
LONDON (Reuters) - Eleven British Muslims charged with being involved in a plot to blow up U.S.-bound transatlantic airliners have been remanded in custody after appearing in court on Tuesday.
Eight have been charged with conspiracy to murder and with plotting to detonate homemade explosives on planes after smuggling the components on board while three others were charged with other terrorism-related offences.
Abdullah Ahmed Ali, Waheed Arafat Khan, Umar Islam, Tanvir Hussain, Assad Ali Sarwar, Adam Khatib, Ibrahim Savant and Waheed Zaman, spoke only to confirm their names and addresses.
There was no application for bail and all eight were charged with conspiracy to murder and remanded in custody until September 4 when they will appear at the Old Bailey.
Hussain's lawyer Mohammed Zed told the court that "all allegations are denied," while lawyers for the other seven made no comment about a plea.
A 17-year-old who cannot be named for legal reasons was remanded in custody for possessing items useful to a terrorist including a book on home-made bombs and suicide notes while Cossar Ali was remanded for failing to notify the authorities that her husband was planning an act of terrorism.
The two were remanded in custody until August 29 and their lawyers indicated they would plead not guilty.
The 11th suspect, Mehran Hussain, was remanded until September 19 for having information about an individual who was planning a terrorist attack. Hussain's lawyer also indicated he would plead not guilty.
The 10 men were all wearing white sweatshirts or t-shirts and grey tracksuit trousers while the woman wore a blue headscarf.
They were flanked by uniformed security guards while they stood in the dock during hearings in a cramped courtroom at Westminster Magistrates Court.
Two of the men waved to the public gallery which was packed with friends of the suspects and family members. The 11 were mostly from east London or High Wycombe.
U.S. officials have said the plot to use liquid explosives could have caused a disaster on the scale of the September 11, 2001 attacks on U.S. cities that killed nearly 3,000 people.
Police said on August 10 they had foiled a plot to blow up planes in mid-Atlantic, alleging that the suspected plotters' goal was "mass murder on an unimaginable scale".
They are still holding another 11 people in custody while as many as 17 more, including at least two British nationals, are being held in Pakistan over the suspected plot.
The charges come 13 months after four British Islamist suicide bombers killed themselves and 52 other people on public transport in London during the rush hour. Two left videos saying they acted to punish Britain for its foreign policy.
LONDON (Reuters) - Eleven British Muslims charged with being involved in a plot to blow up U.S.-bound transatlantic airliners have been remanded in custody after appearing in court on Tuesday.
Eight have been charged with conspiracy to murder and with plotting to detonate homemade explosives on planes after smuggling the components on board while three others were charged with other terrorism-related offences.
Abdullah Ahmed Ali, Waheed Arafat Khan, Umar Islam, Tanvir Hussain, Assad Ali Sarwar, Adam Khatib, Ibrahim Savant and Waheed Zaman, spoke only to confirm their names and addresses.
There was no application for bail and all eight were charged with conspiracy to murder and remanded in custody until September 4 when they will appear at the Old Bailey.
Hussain's lawyer Mohammed Zed told the court that "all allegations are denied," while lawyers for the other seven made no comment about a plea.
A 17-year-old who cannot be named for legal reasons was remanded in custody for possessing items useful to a terrorist including a book on home-made bombs and suicide notes while Cossar Ali was remanded for failing to notify the authorities that her husband was planning an act of terrorism.
The two were remanded in custody until August 29 and their lawyers indicated they would plead not guilty.
The 11th suspect, Mehran Hussain, was remanded until September 19 for having information about an individual who was planning a terrorist attack. Hussain's lawyer also indicated he would plead not guilty.
The 10 men were all wearing white sweatshirts or t-shirts and grey tracksuit trousers while the woman wore a blue headscarf.
They were flanked by uniformed security guards while they stood in the dock during hearings in a cramped courtroom at Westminster Magistrates Court.
Two of the men waved to the public gallery which was packed with friends of the suspects and family members. The 11 were mostly from east London or High Wycombe.
U.S. officials have said the plot to use liquid explosives could have caused a disaster on the scale of the September 11, 2001 attacks on U.S. cities that killed nearly 3,000 people.
Police said on August 10 they had foiled a plot to blow up planes in mid-Atlantic, alleging that the suspected plotters' goal was "mass murder on an unimaginable scale".
They are still holding another 11 people in custody while as many as 17 more, including at least two British nationals, are being held in Pakistan over the suspected plot.
The charges come 13 months after four British Islamist suicide bombers killed themselves and 52 other people on public transport in London during the rush hour. Two left videos saying they acted to punish Britain for its foreign policy.