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Doctors accused over airport bombing on trial

  • Story Highlights
  • Men accused of failed car bomb attacks in London and Glasgow go on trial
  • Bilal Abdulla and Mohammed Asha charged with conspiracy to murder
  • The men, both doctors, also charged with conspiracy to cause explosions
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LONDON, England (CNN) -- Two men accused of failed car bomb attacks in London and a car bombing at Glasgow International Airport last year went on trial Thursday.

Mohammed Asha, a doctor, is accused of conspiracy to murder and cause explosions.

Mohammed Asha, a doctor, is accused of conspiracy to murder and cause explosions.

Bilal Abdulla and Mohammed Asha, both doctors, are charged with conspiracy to murder and conspiracy to cause explosions. Their trial at London's Woolwich Crown Court is expected to last up to 12 weeks.

The case stems from the discovery in June 2007 of two explosives-filled Mercedes sedans in central London. One of the cars was parked across the street from a packed nightclub near Piccadilly Circus and the other was towed from an underground car park at Hyde Park.

An ambulance crew notified police about the first car after they saw smoke coming from it. The second car was towed for a parking offense but drew suspicion because it smelled of gasoline.

Officials said both cars cars were filled with fuel, gas canisters, and nails. Police managed to defuse them.

The following day, with attention still focused on the averted attacks in the capital, a Jeep sped through the barriers outside Glasgow International Airport and slammed head on into the terminal. The Jeep, filled with propane gas, burst into flames and created a fireball.

The driver and passenger jumped out of the car. One set himself on fire and later died in the hospital; the other was identified as Abdulla, an Iraqi doctor who had been practicing medicine in Scotland.

Later that day, police arrested Asha as he was driving with his wife on a highway in Cheshire, England. Police said Asha, a doctor of Palestinian descent who grew up in Jordan, conspired with Abdulla to carry out the explosions.

The incidents happened just days after British Prime Minister Gordon Brown took office.

A third man charged in the case, Sabeel Ahmed, pleaded guilty in April to failing to disclose information about an act of terrorism. He was ordered to be deported to India.

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