Three Britons were jailed for life Monday for plotting a “terrorist outrage” on the scale of the Sept. 11 attacks by blowing up transatlantic airliners bound for North America using bombs made from liquid explosives. Ringleader Abdulla Ahmed Ali, 28, was given a minimum sentence of 40 years for plotting the attack. 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. The suspected Al-Qaeda plot, which British detectives said was just days from being put into operation, had huge worldwide ramifications leading to tight restrictions on the amount of liquids passengers could take on board aircraft. The bombers intended to destroy at least seven planes, carrying over 200 passengers each, in mid-flight between London's Heathrow airport and the United States and Canada in August 2006 using explosives hidden in soft drink bottles. They were arrested that month following the largest counter-terrorism operation ever carried out by British police. “The intention was to perpetrate a terrorist outrage that would stand alongside the events of September 11, 2001 in history,” the judge, Justice Richard Henriques, told London's top security Woolwich Crown Court. He said it was “the most grave and wicked conspiracy ever proven within this jurisdiction.”
