Fertiliser bomb plot jury still out

Jurors in the the yearlong fertiliser bomb plot trial have retired for a 26th day to consider their verdicts.

The Old Bailey judge in the case has told members of the jury he will accept a 10-2 majority verdict.

In March 2004, seven British men were arrested following the discovery of more than half a ton of chemical fertiliser in storage in west London.

The prosecution alleges they were involved in a plot to bomb targets in Britain, including the Bluewater shopping centre in Kent and the Ministry of Sound nightclub in London, and to hit gas and electricity supplies.

The defendants deny there was a plot. Some say they did not know what the fertiliser was, that they were only interested in sending money and supplies to fighters in Kashmir and Afghanistan, or that they were duped.

Omar Khyam, 25, his brother Shujah Mahmood, 20, Waheed Mahmood, 35, and Jawad Akbar, 23, all from Crawley, West Sussex, Anthony Garcia, 25, of Barkingside, east London, Nabeel Hussain, 22, of Horley, Surrey, and Salahuddin Amin, 32, of Luton, Bedfordshire, deny conspiring to cause explosions likely to endanger life between January 1, 2003 and March 31, 2004.

Khyam, Garcia and Hussain also deny a charge under the Terrorism Act of possessing 1,300lb (600kg) of ammonium nitrate fertiliser for terrorism.

Khyam and Shujah Mahmood further deny possessing aluminium powder for terrorism.

© Independent Television News Limited 2007. All rights reserved.