6 men going on trial for failed 2005 London transit bombings

Thursday, January 11th 2007, 6:13 am

By: News On 6

LONDON (AP) _ The trial of six men who authorities allege attempted to bomb London's transit network in 2005, two weeks after suicide bombers killed 52 bus and subway commuters in the city, opens Thursday at a high-security London court.

The abortive July 21, 2005, attacks on three London Underground trains and a bus shook a city that was still reeling from explosions two weeks earlier that killed 52 passengers and the four bombers _ the deadliest attack on London since World War II and the first suicide bombings in Western Europe.

During the alleged July 21 attempt, devices were triggered, again on three subway trains and a double-decker bus. They failed to detonate fully, and no one was injured.

Ibrahim Muktar Said, 28; Ramzi Mohamed, 25; Yassin Omar, 26; Manfu Asiedu, 33; and Hussain Osman, 28 _ all from London _ have pleaded not guilty to charges including conspiracy to murder, possession of explosives and conspiracy to cause explosions. Ibrahim, Mohammed, Omar and Osman also deny attempted murder.

A sixth man, Adel Yahya, 24, denies conspiring to cause explosions.

Most of the main suspects were picked up in Britain a few days after the failed bombings. Osman fled to Italy, and was arrested in Rome a week after the attacks.

Asiedu was arrested after a backpack, allegedly full of explosives, was found in a London park, and Yahya was detained at Gatwick Airport in December 2005 as he got off a flight from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

The case was being heard by senior judge Adrian Fulford at Woolwich Crown Court, a heavily fortified courthouse beside London's high-security Belmarsh Prison.

Prosecuting lawyer Nigel Sweeney was not expected to begin outlining his case Thursday. Instead, Fulford was scheduled to swear in a jury panel to hear the case.

Eleven other people _ including Osman's wife, Yeshiemebet Girma, and her sister Mulumebet Girma _ have been charged with assisting the alleged would-be bombers or failing to disclose information. Their trials are due to take place later this year.

No one has ever been charged in connection with the July 7 bombings, which shocked the country _ particularly because they were carried out by British-bred Muslims who had led seemingly ordinary, mainstream lives.

Most of the July 21 suspects have roots in East Africa.

The government has since said Britain faces the likelihood of more attacks _ though it denies the view, held by many Britons, that the threat has been heightened by the nation's support for the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.

Eliza Manningham-Buller, head of the domestic spy agency MI5, said in November that agents had foiled five major terrorist plots since July 2005 and knew of about 30 conspiracies to kill people and damage the British economy.