Trial Begins For U.K. Bombing Suspects

Prosecutor Says 6 Men Involved In "Extremist Muslim Plot" Aimed At Killing Commuters

(AP)  Six men plotted to kill London transport passengers with bombs made from hydrogen peroxide and chapati flour, a British prosecutor told a jury Monday.

No one was killed in the attempted bombings July 21, 2005, because the devices failed to explode.

"We say that the failure of these bombs to explode has nothing to do with the intentions of the defendants. It was simply the good fortune of the traveling public that this day they were spared," prosecutor Nigel Sweeney said, in outlining the government's case.

Forensic scientists had tested the mixture, however, and "in every experiment this mixture has exploded," The men have pleaded not guilty to charges of plotting to bomb London's transport network just two weeks after suicide attackers killed 52 commuters in the city on July 7, 2005.

"This case is concerned with an extremist Muslim plot, the ultimate objective of which was to carry out a number of murders and suicide bombings," Sweeney told jurors.

Sweeney said the components for the bombs were bought in April or May.

"It follows from what I have been saying that the evidence in this case shows that the conspiracy had been in existence long before the events of July 7," Sweeney said.

"It is our case that the events with which this case is concerned are plainly not some hastily arranged copycat, albeit, as we shall see, like 7/7, one of the bombs was deployed on a bus somewhat after the others."

He said the main explosive charge was 70 percent liquid hydrogen peroxide and 30 percent flour. Chapati is a type of Indian flat bread.

Sweeney said detonators contained triacetone triperoxide (TATP), an explosive used by Palestinian suicide bombers and Richard Reid, who attempted to detonate a shoe bomb on a U.S.-bound aircraft. The explosives were packed in plastic tubs, with screws, bolts and other pieces of metal taped on the outside as shrapnel, he said.

Ibrahim Muktar Said, 28, Ramzi Mohamed, 25, Yassin Omar, 26, Manfu Asiedu, 33, Adel Yahya, 24, and Hussain Osman, 28 — all from London — deny charges of conspiracy to murder and conspiracy to cause explosions.

Most of the suspects were arrested in Britain a few days after the failed bombings. Osman fled to Italy, and was detained in Rome a week after the attacks.

Eleven other people — including Osman's wife and sister-in-law — have been charged with assisting the accused or failing to disclose information. Their trials are due to take place later this year.

Commercially available hydrogen peroxide is too diluted to be an effective explosive, Sweeney said, so the conspirators bought a total of 284 bottles and then boiled the substance to increase the concentration.

Traces of hydrogen peroxide and TATP were found in Omar's apartment, along with evidence that hydrogen peroxide had been boiled.

Osman told police that the bombs were only intended to scare people, Sweeney said.

The case is being heard by judge Adrian Fulford at Woolwich Crown Court, a heavily fortified courthouse next to London's high-security Belmarsh Prison. It is expected to last between three and four months.

During jury selection last week, the judge told prospective jurors the trial "comes after all the shock, confusion and press reporting" of attacks in July 2005, "most particularly the death and the injuries of those who were involved in the incidents on July 7."

He said they would be asked to decide whether the defendants intended to kill or injure others.

"It is not about whether killing or causing serious injury to people is justified on the basis of any ideology or belief," he said.

[rafterman1]

No, if Dems go to watch the trials, it's because they are going to see something that they will never, ever see in this country - trials for terrorists. Thanks to Bush and his torturers, we will never actually be able to try people in the US for terrorism.

You see, the Dems stand for something you will never understand - that a great nation is one that can apply it's laws to it's enemies as well as it does to it's own citizens. If that law - and country - is just, we should never be afraid to let the law work it's way forward. We should not have to rely on torture and secret prisons to guide our fear. You see it as somehow supporting the enemy if we uphold our own constitution, even in times of danger. But true patriots see it as supporting our constitution - making it stronger - by ensuring rights for all, even our enemies. If they truely are our enemies, they will get their just desserts. We should not have to cheat to punish them. Is the Bush administration afraid of terrorists? Or they really afraid of our laws and strength as a nation? It sounds like they have no faith in this country at all.

[notblue]

I'm sure a group of Democratic Senators will head over to England to see for themselves if this trial is justified. The effort will involve finding the truth, Britians prime minister could have lied about the whole thing or there could be conspiracy theories perputrated to fool the the British people into believeing the Islamists are a threat to freedom. There were a number of Dems that went Iraq before the last election so there are experienced politicians ready to take on this important task of finding the lies for politics sake and stopping any unjust actions on the part of the free world that might undermine the cause of the radicals.