Three found guilty in liquid bomb plot

By Luke Baker

LONDON (Reuters) - Three Britons were found guilty on Monday of conspiracy to kill using homemade liquid bombs, but a jury failed to agree that they intended to blow up transatlantic airliners in an al Qaeda-style attack.

The verdicts came after a high-profile, five-month trial in which prosecutors had argued that eight co-conspirators planned to smuggle explosives onto half a dozen aircraft at London's Heathrow airport and blow them up midway to North America.

After more than 50 hours of deliberation, the 12-person jury was unconvinced by the prosecution's description of a complex airline bomb plot, finding only three of the defendants -- Abdulla Ahmed Ali, Assad Sarwar and Tanvir Hussain -- guilty of a lesser charge of conspiracy to commit murder.

The jury failed to reach a verdict on four other defendants and the eighth was found not guilty on all charges.

Sentencing is due to take place later.

The trial had been closely watched. Police and secret services described the plot as potentially one of the deadliest ever hatched on British soil.

U.S. authorities said it could have killed as many people as the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington.

After it was uncovered in August 2006, thousands of flights around the world were disrupted and new restrictions were introduced banning passengers from taking liquids on aircraft.