LONDON - A prosecutor has told a British court that an al Qaeda-inspired man flew to London from South Africa to head up a plot to blow up at least seven trans-Atlantic airliners with suicide strikes.
Eight Britons are on trial at a London court, accused of planning to bomb at least seven jetliner flights from London to the United States and Canada.
Flights to cities including New York, Washington, D.C., San Francisco, Montreal and Toronto, were all selected for attack on a single afternoon in 2006.
Prosecutor Peter Wright says 26-year-old Mohammed Gulzar arrived in Britain in July 2006 as the final pieces of the deadly plan were being put together.
"Mr. Gulzar was no ordinary foot soldier,'' Wright says.
"He was a major figure within this plot.''
Gulzar arrived shortly after the group began to finalize the recruitment of men willing to act as suicide bombers and recorded a series of martyrdom videotapes explaining their planned attacks, Wright said in his opening statement Monday.
Also known to police by the code name "Pie Chart,'' Gulzar did not record a suicide videotape, and intended to lead the organization of the attacks, Wright said.
Prosecutors believe about 1,500 people on board the passenger jets -- and potentially scores more on the ground if the planes exploded over cities -- could have been killed if the planned co-ordinated attacks had been carried out.
The cell planned to assemble bombs in jetliner toilets using hydrogen peroxide-based explosives smuggled on board by injecting them into soft drinks bottles, Wright said. Police arrested the suspects in August 2006.
Airlines quickly imposed tough new limits on the amount of liquids and gels -- and types of carry-on luggage -- passengers could take on flights.
The jury has been shown chilling martyrdom videos in which several of the men sought to justify their planned suicide bombings, calling it revenge for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
All eight men deny the charge of conspiracy to murder and a charge of planning an act of violence likely to endanger the safety of an aircraft. Both offences carry maximum sentences of life imprisonment.
In addition to Gulzar, the accused are Waheed Zaman, 23; Umar Islam, 29; Abdulla Ahmed Ali, 27; Assad Sarwar, 27; Tanvir Hussain, 27; Ibrahim Savant, 27; and Arafat Waheed Khan, 26.
