Three Britons get life in prison

The discovery of the plot three years ago threw the airline industry into chaos. The bombers plan to drain plastic soft-drink bottles with syringes and refill them with concentrated hydrogen peroxide,a bleaching agent also used as a propellant for rockets,led to new measures prohibiting passengers from carrying all but small quantities of liquids and creams onto flights.

Justice Richard Henriques,said on Monday that had the conspiracy been successful it would stand alongside the events of September 11,2001 in history.

Last year,a trial failed to reach verdicts on the bombing charges against the defendants then being tried,though they were convicted of lesser charges. So the stakes were especially high in the second trial for the main agencies involved in uncovering the London plot,including Scotland Yard and Britains secret intelligence agencies,MI5 and MI6,as well as the CIA,the National Security Agency and the FBI.