Call for inquiry after bomb plot criticism

By Michael Holden

LONDON (Reuters) - Police and security services were accused on Tuesday of "systematic" failings over the attempted suicide bombings in 2005 because the militant cell's leader had several times crossed their radar.

Opposition politicians demanded a public inquiry, saying the failure to latch on to plot leader Muktah Said Ibrahim was more evidence that lax border controls were leaving Britain at risk.

Ibrahim and three other Muslims of African origin -- Yassin Hassan Omar, Ramzi Mohammed and Hussein Osman -- were found guilty on Monday of conspiracy to murder in connection with the failed attacks of July 21, 2005.

On Tuesday, the jury at Woolwich Crown Court failed to reach verdicts against their two co-accused, Manfo Kwaku Asiedu and Adel Yahya, and prosecutors must now decide whether to hold another trial with a new jury.

The four convicted men had tried to set off homemade bombs on three underground trains and a bus to replicate the carnage of deadly suicide attacks in London two weeks earlier that killed 52 people. But their explosives failed to detonate properly.

At their trial, they claimed the bombings were a hoax designed as a protest against the war in Iraq.

"The convictions show that the jury rejected the blatant, indeed ridiculous lies told by these defendants in a futile attempt to escape justice," Peter Clarke, head of Counter Terrorism Command, said on Tuesday.

Asiedu, who admitted helping make the bombs and to dumping a fifth device in a park in north London, broke ranks with his co-defendants during the trial, saying the plot was genuine.