Terror trial of NHS doctors begins

The trial began in London yesterday of two NHS doctors who planned a terrorist campaign of violence against Britain to "punish" the country for the Government's foreign policy in Iraq and Israel.

The men were arrested for their part in a failed car bombing in central London and for a suicide attack against Glasgow airport. The London attempt saw Bilal Abdulla, 29, and Mohammed Asha, 27, leave two cars packed with explosives outside a nightclub in central London in June 2007.

When both cars failed to detonate, the pair, plus their accomplice, Kafeel Ahmed, subsequently launched the attack in Glasgow by driving a burning Jeep full of petrol bombs into the airport's concourse. Ahmed, 28, died from burns suffered in the attack, in which Abdulla was arrested.

After their arrests, the doctors were found to have purchased three more cars and were believed to have a list of other targets that included the Old Bailey and the City of London, areas that they had filmed.

Jonathan Laidlaw QC, prosecuting, said: "In addition to the killing of the innocent the objective was to seize public attention, both here and internationally. By the carrying out of a series of explosions, with no warning as to where the next strike would occur, the terrorists knew the public would be gripped by fear."