Life sentence for UK bomb plotters

LONDON, England (CNN) -- Four men convicted of plotting a series of suicide bomb attacks on London's transport system in July 2005 were sentenced to life Wednesday and will each serve a minimum of 40 years in jail.

Muktar Said Ibrahim, 29; Yassin Omar, 26; Ramzi Mohammed, 25; and Hussain Osman, 28 were handed down life sentences at Woolwich Crown Court in London after being convicted Monday for conspiracy to murder.

Prosecutors told the court Wednesday they would seek a second trial against two other men Manfo Kwaku Asiedu, 34, and Adel Yahya, 24, after a jury failed to return verdicts in their cases. Both men deny conspiracy to murder.

The jury was discharged after reaching deadlock during the initial hearings, which ended on Tuesday.

The July 21 failed attacks happened 14 days after the July 7 London suicide attacks, which killed 52 commuters and four bombers. Watch the trial conclude for four men accused of plotting the July 21 attacks »

The defendants -- all from London -- denied charges of conspiracy to murder and conspiracy to cause explosions.

Four of the men claimed the devices, made from liquid hydrogen peroxide, chapati flour, acetone and acid, were a hoax.

Another claimed they were real bombs but that he was duped while the sixth man denies having anything to do with the alleged conspiracy.

During the trial the jury was told by prosecutor Nigel Sweeney that the conspiracy "had been in existence long before the events of July 7" and did not appear to be some "hastily arranged copycat."

Each bomb was placed in a large plastic container in a knapsack and screws, tacks, washers or nuts, were taped to the outside to "maximize the possibility of injury," Sweeney said.

The July 21 devices were triggered, on three subway trains and a double-decker bus, the same as those two weeks before, but they failed to detonate fully, and no one was injured.

Forensic scientists tested the mixture, however, and "in every experiment this mixture has exploded," Sweeney said. "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."

The jury heard that Omar's one-bedroom flat in north London was the conspirators' bomb factory, "where the great majority, if not all, of the work required to make those bombs was carried out." Sweeney said Mohamed was seen trying to set off his bomb facing a woman with a pushchair and was wearing a top with New York on it, "no doubt connected with the events of 9/11."

He said films featuring images of beheadings of Western hostages and other attacks, including those on September 11 in New York, had been found in two of the defendants' flats.

Three of the accused attended sermons by the radical Islamic preacher Abu Hamza at London's Finsbury Park Mosque, one received military training in Sudan, while four went on a camping trip to Scotland in 2004 to "get fit for jihad," Sweeney said. Most of the suspects, who are largely of East African descent, were arrested in Britain a few days after the failed bombings.

Osman was held in Rome a week after the attacks. He told police the bombs were only intended to scare people, the court heard. It was disclosed that five of the six men had been under surveillance by police almost 15 months before their alleged bombing attempt.

Police and prosecutors said it was just luck that the bombs failed to go off, either because the men had mixed the ingredients wrongly, the detonator was not powerful enough or the hot weather had affected the explosives.

The verdicts follow a six-month trial, coming days after police uncovered a plot to detonate car bombs in London's entertainment district and two men rammed a flaming Jeep Cherokee into Glasgow airport.

British Prime Minister Grodon Brown said Wednesday his government would consider increasing the period security suspects can be held without charge. The current 28-day maximum was introduced after Brown's predecessor Tony Blair was defeated over a 90-day proposal.

The government would also look at the use of intercept evidence, which is currently inadmissable in security cases. E-mail to a friend

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