Eight British bomb plot suspects appear in court

LONDON, Sept 4 (Reuters) Eight British Muslims were remanded in custody today after appearing in court in connection with a suspected plot to blow up transatlantic airliners.

The men, aged between 19 and 28, appeared at London's Old Bailey central criminal court via videolink from Belmarsh maximum security prison in southeast London.

They were remanded in custody for a further two weeks.

They are charged with conspiracy to murder and plotting to smuggle and detonate bombs on board airliners.

The men were among 25 arrested by British anti-terrorism detectives who said on Aug 10 they had foiled a plan to use homemade liquid explosives to bring down several airliners on the way from Britain to the United States.

Prosecutor Colin Gibbs told a packed courtroom that due to the mountain of evidence, including forensic material, he expected the men to face ''a very long trial of (between) five and eight months.'' The trial, he said, would not realistically start until at least January 2008.

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