3 Acquitted Of Aiding 2005 London Bombers

Men Accused Of Taking Part In Test Run Of Transit Attacks That Killed 52 Are Found Innocent

(AP)  Three men accused of helping plan the 2005 London transit bombings were acquitted Tuesday of playing a part role in the plot, a blow to investigators' hopes of convicting anyone for the worst attack on Britain since World War II.

A jury in London found Waheed Ali, Sadeer Saleem, and Mohammed Shakil not guilty of conspiring to cause explosions. They were accused of working with four suicide bombers who attacked three subway cars and a bus July 7, 2005, killing 52 passengers and themselves.

Prosecutors had alleged the accused took part in a test run for the attacks in December 2004, when they joined three of July 7 bombers on a trip to London.

The group visited subway stations and a host of popular tourist spots, such as the London Eye observation wheel and Natural History Museum, prosecutors said.

But the jury rejected claims the three men were involved in plotting the attacks. It was the second time they had been tried. A different jury failed to reach verdicts in August.

Ali and Shakil were convicted Tuesday of a lesser charge of conspiring to attend a terrorist training camp. They will be sentenced Wednesday.

Legal experts said the outcome highlighted the difficulty of convicting suspects in complex terrorism cases.

"Many of these cases take months, and juries get to know and like the defendants," said human rights lawyer Geoffrey Robertson. "They begin to think they're not so bad and they doubt the strength of the evidence against them."

(Left: A bus destroyed in London on July 7, 2005.)

Ali, Saleem and Shakil, who were friends of the four suicide bombers, are the only people to have been tried in connection with the attacks.

Police said their inquiry - Britain's largest police investigation ever - is continuing. But officers say their work has been hindered by the reluctance of witnesses in Britain's Muslim communities to come forward.

Jacqui Putnam, who was injured in the blast in a subway car at London's Edgware Road station, said the failure to bring anyone to justice has left survivors frustrated.

"It was painful to follow the trial, and it is equally painful to be here, nearly four years after 7/7 and still have so many unanswered questions," Putnam said in a statement after the verdict.

[mysteriousjz]

Someone on this board below .......

may be sufferring from anger and insecurities that obscure one's sound judgement. As it sounds your label of "sympathizers" point to half of the world population. If "sympathizers" were to blow up, the whole world would be on fire at this moment , if not persihed..... It is such a beautiful day outside..............

[gregsmalltwn]

Hey mysteriousjz- you sound like a terrorist sympatizer to me. Yes when there is pain, there is a need for closure- because someone is GUILTY of murder and pain. There is no way that these individuals were not somehow a part of this plot (they travelled with them and were friends of them). These guys stick together like glue. Scapegoating?? Yeah maybe some guilt by association, but many times it is just a lack of evidence- not lack of guilt that prevents a conviction. But that is the price for a free society- not the society that these cowardly low life creatons would create. One day they will be judged- and so will the people that sympatized and helped them in some form or fashion. Watch and wait, these guys will pop up in the future blowing themselves up or planning another bombing (depending on how long they are in jail). Jurors should be ashamed of themselves.

[babooph]

Lucky for them they were not Irish,or in Gitmo.

[mysteriousjz]

XX".....officers say their work has been hindered by the reluctance of witnesses in Britain's Muslim communities to come forward. ....."XX

Once you label a person or community as "negative" whatever no matter what the person or community does positive or positively, then dont expect such person or community to come forward to you with flowers in their hands-It is called "labeling" theory in Sociology.

XX"injured in the blast in a subway car at London's Edgware Road station, said the failure to bring anyone to justice has left survivors frustrated."XX

Respectfully, when there is pain, there is a need to do blame game to console oneself and to punish anyone or everyone even remotely perceived to be the source of pain-It is called "Scapegoating"-the individuals who did it have perished themselves-, punishing the world would simply backfire and keep causing more pain. Already, hundreds of thousands of people have been killed half a world away for the deeds of few-enough already

[Zowwyy]

guilty!!! they must have used the OJ jury