Airline bomb plot suspects appear in UK court

London, Aug 22: The first of 11 British Muslims appeared in a London court today to be formally charged over a plot to blow up US-bound airliners in mid-flight.

Three defendants, Abdullah Ahmed Ali, Waheed Arafat Khan, Umar Islam, spoke only to confirm their names and addresses. A fourth, Tanvir Hussain, said he had no permanent address.

They are among eight people charged with conspiracy to murder by detonating home-made explosives on planes. One other person is charged with possessing items useful for terrorism and two for failing to report the plot.

Hussein's lawyer Mohammed Zed told the packed courtroom at Westminster Magistrates Court that ''all allegations are denied''.

Lawyers for the other three made no comment about a plea.

The four men, flanked by five uniformed security guards, were ordered held until further hearings on September 4.

British police said on August 10 they had foiled a plot to blow up planes in mid-Atlantic, alleging that the suspected plotters' goal was ''mass murder on an unimaginable scale''.

Prosecutors announced yesterday they were charging 11 people after police found bomb-making equipment, suicide notes and ''martyrdom videos''. No decision has yet been taken on whether to charge another 11 people who are still being held.

The suspects were wearing white sweatshirts or t-shirts and grey tracksuit trousers when they appeared in court.

The public gallery was packed with friends and relatives of the suspects, most of whom are from east London.

Proceedings against the seven other suspects were due to continue later today.

US and British officials have said the plot to use liquid explosives could have caused a disaster to rival the September 11, 2001 attacks on US cities that killed nearly 3,000 people.

As many as 17 more people, including at least two British nationals, are being held in Pakistan over the suspected plot.

The charges come 13 months after four British Islamist suicide bombers killed themselves and 52 other people on public transport in London. Two of the bombers left videos saying they acted to punish Britain for its foreign policy.

REUTERS