Three cleared of aiding 7/7 bombers

12 April 2012

Three men have been cleared of helping the July 7 bombers plan their attacks by carrying out a reconnaissance mission in London.

But two of the men, Waheed Ali and Mohammed Shakil, were convicted of a second charge of conspiracy to attend a place used for terrorist training.

Ali, Shakil and Sadeer Saleem, who were being re-tried at Kingston Crown Court after an earlier jury failed to reach verdicts, were accused of visiting the London Eye, the Natural History Museum and the London Aquarium while pinpointing potential targets seven months before the 2005 atrocity.

But the jury found the trio, all from Beeston, Leeds, not guilty of conspiring with the four bombers and others unknown to cause explosions between November 17, 2004 and July 8, 2005, following the three-month long re-trial.

Campaigners and relatives of those killed in the bombings said the verdicts mean no one has ever been brought to justice for the attacks on London's transport network. They said it strengthened their case for a full independent inquiry into the deadly London terrorist attack.

As the verdicts were read out, Ali smiled broadly, Saleem wiped his eyes and Shakil leant forward, mouthing "thank you" to the jury. Ali and Shakil will be sentenced on Wednesday.

Ali, 25, Saleem, 28, and Shakil, 32, were the first people to face charges in connection with the attacks, which killed 52 people and injured up to a thousand more.

Suicide bombers Mohammed Siddique Khan, Shehzad Tanweer, Hasib Hussain and Jermaine Lindsay detonated rucksack devices packed with explosives on three tube trains and a bus.

The trial heard that the three defendants travelled from Leeds to London on December 16 2004 with Hussain, who went on to detonate his bomb on the No 30 bus in Tavistock Square, claiming 13 lives. There they met Jermaine Lindsay, who killed 26 people on a Piccadilly Line underground train.

The prosecution alleged they conducted a "hostile reconnaissance" of potential targets during a two-day visit, claiming it was "an important first step in what was, by then, a settled plan to cause explosions in the UK". Detailed "cell site analysis" of mobile phone use, including calls to the London Tourist Board and various attractions, allowed the group's movements across London to be mapped.

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